The Kyutora Threat
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to The Shunoros Campaign. It's been about 4 months since Shunoros vanished off the radar. But now they're back with new tactics and ready to jump into the year 2012. This time around, tough, a mysterious armored figure will get involved and will attempt to overcome them. Desperado fellows lurk around Golden Star, too. No - one can lower the guard by now. Rated M for lemon.
1. Chapter 1: Alien skies

**The Kyutora Threat**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Alien skies**

19:19 (Japan Time), Sunday December the 21st, 2011...

_Hah! I laugh at that Sages' Council: forcibly sending men to a war they never wished to fight: those foolish Sages deluded by a Demon… A Demon which seeks to stain this land with blood and corpses!_

"… So! Is there anyone worth it amongst you lot?"

"R-run!"

"You damned herd of cowards!"

"So! You shall be my opponent? Come. Meet your powerlessness in front of the Royal Family!"

"D-damn it!"

"Hah! Mere fools…"

_I see them: soldiers ill-equipped with wooden shields with no decoration or frame, poor quality lances the metal of which easily breaks because it was not properly tempered, a blunt wooden helmet… And they have no armor: just their plain one-piece suits colored white which reach until the knees plus their own sandals… They obviously wanted to save up time and money: what foolish Sages!_

"The enemy is running, my Son. See? I told you. They do not wish to die in vain because they have nothing to gain from this "war"… Or, rather, this foolish incursion into the On'Setsu Kingdom…"

"True, Father."

_I see him: my father, the King… Clad with his golden suit of armor, wielding his lance the edge of which is clad in silver and his silver shield with our crest on it… The "Commanders" are but fools who try to look intimidating but are out of their league when faced with US…_

"… Heh, heh, heh… Heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah… At last…! I shall have this palace for me… And all riches shall be MINE!"

"Them! The Demon!"

"Step back, my Son."

"But…!"

"That's an order! This involves me and this Demon."

"… Roger. I shall lead the troops to expel the enemy from the city: most of them have already run and not dared to pillage."

_I obey my Father. Yet! When I come back from the patrol, I will make sure to behead this Demon and put an end to the visceral fear creeping out of my heart… _

"Let us go!"

"Roger!"

_I run across the avenues of the city: they are clean: save for some dropped shield or lance out of fear: they wanted to lighten their escape. None have dared to pillage lest they invoke the anger of the Four Heavenly Kings and the High One… The High One! Its anger would flow through that whole citadel until no stone was left standing!_

"… Too quiet…"

"Is something the matter, Prince?"

"… Nothing. Split into 5 men patrols."

"Roger!"

"I will go alone."

"Roger!"

_I will just circle back to the outer yard of the palace… And I can still hear some clashing of metal and metal… Hmpf… So the Demon brought a sword worth it? Yet they surely will fall soon: they cannot break OUR armors!_

"… Prince! Most of the patrols report that the enemy has totally fled the city and some can be seen disbanding: some of their commanders have been found slain by their own men."

"Hah! They surely whipped them to try to force them to march and now they had their revenge on those fools blinded by greed! They just wanted to spoil this city's riches!"

"Roger!"

"Bring them to the front of the graves and incinerate them all: we cannot let their bodies stain our lands!"

"Roger!"

_I should hurry back… I do not fear Father losing but I would like to deliver the Heavenly Punishment to that Demon… That Demon with tanned brownish and black hair and skin and evil blue irises…! Let them be slain and then this Land shall have peace!_

"… Son. Why did you return?"

"I just wanted to extinguish the ghost, Father."

"Hum. Alright. Go ahead. I shall ask the patrols if any of them dared to try to force their way into the inner courtyard."

_Hah! I see. Their armor is but mere leather. Our "energy armors" cannot be harmed by blunt weapons! And we have something… Something which those fools would never be able to understand or destroy… Something which will ensure that our bloodline shall rise again after overcoming Time Eternal! This will be a glorious start to the 7__th__ month of this year! The 1060th year since the foundation of the Kingdom! There! Their neck is cut: now they are slain and nothing will bring them back! Then we shall burn it along with the fools!_

BLAM!

"What was that?"

BLAM!

"Who goes there? What are these beams of energy being shot from the skies? A new weapon…? Hah. Proxies?"

_I see them… Simplistic machines! Soldier-like machines __of a dull orange and gray color pattern! Their heads are shaped like cones the sides of which have patterns drawn into them! And they have some armor over the shoulders and the chest which protect their raw energy bodies: they hold shields and swords… HMPF! And instead of legs they have a "tail" of energy which allows them to hover over the ground protected by an armored spear…! Mere proxies! _

BLAM!

"Hah! What poor aiming. Is that all you can do, machine? Come! Dexia Sword! Let the High One destroy this foolish machine which tries to imitate a soldier!"

SLASH!

"Hah! Their armor is nothing to my sword!"

BLAM!

"Green energy? Hmpf! I see. The Demon talked about the Four Heavenly Kings and they try to imitate their "element" or "attribute"… So there must be one of thunder, one of flame, one of water, one of grass and one which is not…"

SLASH! SLASH!

_How frail. How weak. How idiotic. Did they really stake it all on these? I call it a foolish stake. _

"Huh? Hah. They are coming for us. They don't waste time on the mere soldiers. Come, you proxy. You lapdog. Every time I pierce their energy cores they fall apart… They are intended to be easily made. I guess their so-called "God" is somehow related but… Bah! Our 3 artifacts sealed that damned "God"… Or, rather, their power… So there must be a limit of how many of these they can actually create!"

"Son. Are you alright?"

_Father came back and it is no wonder. He must have heard the fighting sounds and someone must have reported._

"They are weak."

"That's the Son I know. Those fools stake it all on these? They have no mind, they move like wild animals. They are no better than tigers. No, I would rather say these are _below_ tigers, even."

"Truly. Mere machines cannot match the intellect of the tigers. They are fierce hunters, they learn, they wait… These are blunt things."

"Yet! Their blades are energy and they could make it past our armors. Do not let them get too close to you, Son."

"Roger, Father. Aristeros Shield! Repel them!"

CLANG! SLASH!

"Truly. How frail. And no more are coming. There are just 4 left: they must have rushed these up and though than just… What, 10 of them? That they would suffice…"

SLASH! CLANG!

"Only 3 left."

"Hum. Good. I shall go check if they dared to send some inside of the palace."

SLASH! SLASH!

"Hmpf. 1 left. Huh? It's flying away…"

TCACH!

"D-damned proxies… From behind…! They hit from behind…! But! My consciousness… Shall overcome Time Eternal… And be revived! I am not dead yet! Eat sword! Die!"

_The blackness is coming… The cold tendrils of death are pulling me into the Realm of the Dead…! But I am not afraid! I will rise! I shall overcome Time Eternal! Hah… You lowlifes lose… Mu Empire! HAH, HAH, HA~H!_

20:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… HUH!"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

"Huff, huff… A… dream…? W-where am I…? Who am I…?"

"Master. Thou have awakened."

A person was laying face-up inside of a cylindrical device somewhere.

This person could be close to a meter and eighty tall.

They wore a gray bodysuit which included black gloves and boots.

They also had a brown leather helmet on which included black thick shades over the eyes.

A respirator mask was set over his nose and mouth.

There was a small curved viewing slit made of glass which allowed for fluorescent light to come in.

The person had suddenly tried to rise but some restrains over their arms and legs had impeded them: they had some wires with round plastic membranes connected to various parts of the bodysuit and a pair of tubes with IVs on their end connected to their wrists.

A computer-generated voice had echoed inside of the helmet because it seemingly had a radio system built-in.

"Huh… What time is it?"

"20:08 PM, Japan Time, Sunday December the 21st, 2011…"

"WHAT? Wait a minute! I remember! This is the "Ark"!"

"Correct, Master."

"You're the onboard computer!"

"Correct, Master."

"What happened? The plan was for the trip to end TWO MONTHS AGO!"

"I shall offer no apologies, yet… There was an accident."

"What! What "accident"?"

"During our transit of the Jovian System… Some meteor fragments hit the SE and SW plasma engine sectors and pierced through the armor… Some systems were damaged and there were no means to repair it… Thus the Inertial Drive lost power and was unable to achieve the calculated speed even with Jupiter's "gravity boost"… It got cut down to about 50% so this is why the trip took double the scheduled time to end…"

"Fuck AND fuck."

"Master? Do calm down. You are waking up from a 4 month-long "cold sleep"… The nutrients have just been injected but you will feel weak and disoriented…"

"Huff. Did we reach Kyutora?"

"30 hours ago."

"Are we in orbit?"

"Correct. Our orbit ranges from 717 km at the highest point to 699 km at the lowest…"

"Huff. The base is running and can be inhabited?"

"Correct."

"The others are napping?"

"Correct."

"… Damn it. Two months of not showing our hide are passable. But four months… Those guys will soon realize that the "red herring" about the "doomsday orbital weapon" meant this… I should've tried to come up with an invisible "Dimensional Area" to protect us! I'm such a moron. My Father would be teaching me a lesson by now."

"Don't overstress yourself, Master."

"Huff. And what a _lovely_ way to wake up…"

"Master?"

"Remembering what happened on July the 5th, 2033 BCE…"

"Do excuse me?"

"Don't mind me. Check on the others."

"Roger. The restrains will come off in 2 minutes."

"Damn it. Kuroban Howsad: what an idiot you've been. Really. And here I thought Gray was the one behaving like an idiot some months ago with that little incident…"

CLAC!

The restrains unlocked and there was a sound of pressure being equalized before another sound rang out: the person slowly took out the IVs along with the respirator and then tried to articulate their feet and hands: they groaned and then gripped a steel handle set in the inner side of the cover: they pushed it and the cover calmly swung to the left: the capsule got opened and the bleak steel ceiling with a pair of fluorescent tubes on it got exposed: the person lifted their waist and aimed their arms forward as if trying to get heated up: they then rotated to the right and leant their feet on the ground to stand up with help from the arms: they quickly leant on the wall in front of them and panted.

"Huff, huff… The computer wasn't kidding… Huh?"

They spotted a round view-window and they walked over to it to gasp and glue their face to it.

"So this is Kyutora… Welcome to the alien sky, I'd rather say."

It was clear now that this room was part of a large construct orbiting a planet from close by: it had some large land-locked water masses and plenty of permafrost and ice on the caps.

"Hum… Let's see… If memory serves the base was built close to the larger lake. Yeah. But I can't see it while it's on the daylight side…"

"Status report: all others will awake in 1 hour 30 minutes."

"Alright. I'll make my way to the cargo bays and try to get some food to thaw and eat before I get into the command bridge."

The person, Kuroban, removed the helmet and left it atop a table.

"Huff!"

Kuroban was a man on his mid-twenties.

He had neatly combed blackish hair and his eyes' irises were red in color.

He had no trace of a beard or moustache so he still retained a youthful appearance.

"I'll engage my "Denpa – Henkan" form later on… Let's just bring out the "Ultimate Orb" to check on it… Ultimate Orb: Materialize!"

Some data began to materialize in the air and then formed an orb-like shape which dropped atop the table.

This "Ultimate Orb" was made of circuitry boards covered by a transparent plastic-like material: it included two bands colored black and white spanning through it from pole to pole and another band which surely was the Equator: its four corners had pieces of armor colored in red, green, blue and purple colors.

"Start system check: I'll come fetch you later."

Kuroban stepped out through an armored door which automatically arched outwards into a window-less cylindrical corridor lit by fluorescent tubes in the ceiling: the south end of this cylinder had a large hatch and the north end had a door: six identical doors were set across its length and he calmly began to head north while sighing.

"Huff! I'm an idiot. I just know it. I had plenty of months to build this station and plan this and I forgot all about the stuff crossing through the Solar System. Luckily there was no gigantic monolith to swallow us and send us close to the core of the Milky Way Galaxy. The god part is that the portal machines can't be activated from Earth. You need to engage them from here, from Kyutora… This planet in another plane of Time-Space, in another "dimension", the entrance of which is past Pluto…"

The door at the north end opened and he ended up in a circular corridor circling one round central body: the central body had four doors on the SW, SE, NW and NE corners while the circling corridor had another three doors set on the west, east and north sides.

"Any of the main body doors leads to the stairs up to the central command bridge where the computer is located at… The west and east corridors are the cargo bays… South and north have the hibernation capsules… There are six per corridor, a total of twelve… And since we're a total of 10 humans and 1 Navi… Close! There's only one spare. Heh. Had we been 12 then we'd be enough to form a self-appointed jury… Like in Agatha Christie's _Murder on the Orient Express_…"

He headed left and entered another corridor: this one had only four doors on it and he opened the first one after interacting with a control panel: the insides were an industrial-scale freezer with some boxes stored there: he opened one and took out a frozen cheese and ham pizza: he headed out after locking the door.

"Phew."

His next step was to return to the main nexus and open one of the main body's doors: he entered an ascending spiral staircase and reached the main room.

"Well, well."

This room contained a small dome with eight triangle-shaped view windows set on its walls: eight straight lines spread across the upper surface and were covered in a metallic grid.

The main room contained several chairs set in a circle so that the view from the view windows could be enjoyed: two curved stairs climbed along the column to the top of the room where a command metallic cushioned armchair was placed: several graphs and holographic screen floated around it.

"And there's the alien sky again."

He looked on through the dome at the planet and then sat down in a chair.

"Let's thaw this."

He headed for a common microwave heater and placed the pizza inside after taking it out the plastic case: it began to hum and he opened a drawer in the wall to pick a plastic dish, a plastic cup and plastic knife and fork: he left those in the ground and headed for a small water fountain like those in offices: he served some water at room temperature and slowly drank it while pausing to humidify his mouth for one or two seconds before swallowing.

PING!

"Ah. It's completed. Good, good."

He took out the pizza and calmly began to eat it: he distractedly glanced at some images of some installation being displayed on-screen.

"What time is it? 20:39, Japan Time… Our base was in an island close to Philippines so it was an hour earlier… This new base has these "portal" machines which generate a tunnel through Time-Space and allow us to reach Earth in a record time of just a few seconds… We should carry a portable oxygen respirator just in case…"

He finished eating the pizza so he threw the plastic into a garbage bin and then stretched as he climbed up into the seat and began to interact with some holographic screens.

"I can't get any news from Earth from here. We'll need to physically get there and update our PET software with the latest update. 10 days left to the year 2011… We'll need to train to get back to action… Golden Star mustn't have been sitting idle… Or, rather… Uncle Moran. Heh. The Net Police is Uncle Merton and we're Uncle Moriarty. Superintendent Oda's nicknames are somewhat ironic… Gray had a good idea when he thought to go by them… Hmpf… Guess we'll eventually figure out if there'll be a _Pocket Monsters_ _Gray_ or not. That'd be ironic... Or maybe not? I must admit that "Platinum" wasn't easy to guess, though. Bah."

He formed a smug smile and chuckled under his breath.

_The Kyutora Threat has just begun… Golden Star! We shall clash again!_


	2. Chapter 2: Of uncles

**Chapter 2: Of uncles**

10:47 AM (Japan Time), Sunday December the 28th…

"… Well, well, well! Let devil bite me if Uncle Merton's favorite nephew, the road-hog, came to say hi~…"

"Oh. How lovely."

"Fuck."

"My! Meijin – kun. It's been a while."

"I know, Superintendent Oda… I'd gone to Akita City…"

"To meet Ms. Akita?"

"Huff."

"We're in trouble, Meijin…"

"Yeah, Punk… BIG trouble…"

"Did Uncle Moran send you a postcard?"

"Golden Star? No. Why would they?"

"Did Uncle Moriarty send you a love letter?"

"WHAT? A LOVE LETTER? SHUNOROS? Please stop kidding me!"

"This guy's getting crazier with each day!"

Superintendent Oda of the Net Police stepped into an office in the Net Police HQ and found Meijin working with a laptop while checking some documents atop his desk: he sighed as Oda began pulling jokes and Punk, his Net Navi, seemed to roll his eyes, even.

"Of uncles goes Uncle Universe~…"

"Isn't that a pun on Cosmo Man?"

"Why. As expected of you, my dear Watson."

"I screwed it up again… I need a charm!"

"Charming Something will provide it along with 666 fan-girls."

"Not randomness again…! I now prefer Golden Star's _Mortadelo & Filemón_ broadcasts to this!"

"They've done plenty! Like Plenty O'Toole."

"_Diamonds are Forever_, I know! And the joke's LAME."

"I expect you to laugh, Mr. Meijin!"

"And now a _Gold-finger_ parody…!"

"Meijin – san: is the analysis…? Oh crap!"

"Yo. Obihiro – kun. Come to beat Meijin to donuts, have you?"

"No, sir!"

Obihiro Shun had come in to apparently talk about something with Meijin but stopped dead on his tracks once he spotted Oda: he groaned and rolled his eyes: today he carried a notebook computer.

"So! Are we going to visit Ms. Ghost Ship in the upcoming _Biohazard: Revelations_ which will come by the end of next month?"

"Don't ask me!" Obihiro fumed.

"My, my."

"GHRKZHT! Meijin – san, the analysis…?"

"_San wa iranai_, Obihiro – kun… It's done: I was about to forward it to you by mail."

"I hear some commotion… Punk! Have you started trouble again? Didn't Meijin tell you to behave?"

"I don't think so, Enzan – sama."

"Yo. Ijuuin – kun. Uncle Moran did send you a postcard?"

"Oh. How lovely!"

"I knew it."

Ijuuin Enzan's voice rang out from outside of the room and he entered only to gasp and groan in annoyance: Blues sighed in defeat and slapped his forehead.

"We've got to deal with the Influence Jam! As in traffic jam! You've all heard of "influence traffic", right? Well! It's become the Influence Jam!"

"Not another _Mortadelo & Filemón_…!" Enzan groaned.

"Huff. Lovely way to end the year, truly..." Blues sighed.

"One, two, three. Hop." Obihiro chanted.

They all ran off as if they were going to be slaughtered and Oda chuckled under his breath as he rubbed his chin: he drew his iPod Touch 4 and unlocked it.

"Yo. My fellow. They behaved as you'd predicted."

"Bravo, _Danna_." A guy's voice replied.

"Next time send them carrots."

"My pleasure!" The guy sounded rather amused.

"So? Who's going first?"

"The newbie… Grrr… Sniper Wolf's lil bro..."

"Oho. Good joke, good joke."

"Ain't it, _Danna_? Maybe we need the "Patriots" to remind them who's in charge… In charge of the situation?" He came up with a joke.

"My pleasure…"

Oda headed outside and spotted four officers chatting next to the coffee vending machine.

"Yo! My fellows. Uncle Moriarty will be back with a New Year's charm."

"Oh crap! Run for your sanity!"

"Heh, heh, heh. So! Things are going to get thrilling again! By Merton!"

11:11 AM (Japan Time)…

"… This is Legato: reporting from Sector 33-D… No anomalies… Over!"

"This is _Noir_. I copy. Finish that sector and head back: Akemi – san volunteered to check it out."

"Roger, sir."

"Grrr! Sniper Wolf's lil bro's come!"

"Lil bro? I thought she was the only survivor of her family… And if that's your idea of a joke, Needle Man, I gotta tell you that it's lame."

A Net Navi had been patrolling a patch of the Reverse Internet and talking to someone via a voice-only radio band.

This Navi's main "skin" color was black, yet his upper torso had red blood armor built over it: there were two black shapes drawn over the shoulders having a golden rim and a thin black line spread from the base of the neck to the lower edge of the armor.

His helmet's main color was blood red as well, yet the inner edges surrounding his thick red shades had a tint of purple to them:

An emblem with a black edge was set on the chest: it consisted of white and black halves split by a thunderbolt-shaped line: white was golden and silver was right.

A purple band formed on the forehead and circled the whole diameter of it: two valley-shaped cavities had been inserted into the sides of it and they ended in golden circles: a "fin" sprouted from the top of the helmet thus giving it a menacing-like look.

The forearms were colored blood red and had two purple-colored parallel formations which originated at the sides of the emblem atop each hand's palm: they spread over the edge of the forearm while forming a pyramid-like shape.

His right forearm currently held a purple-colored Long Sword with a customized hilt.

The central body of the forearm was now colored metallic gray and had two purple circles colored yellow inside: a purplish-colored blade emerged around a cone-shaped purple-colored formation: the blade looked sharp and menacing for some reason or another.

His boots began slightly below the knee and had purple-colored diamond-like shapes which extended as high as the knee: they were colored blood red as well: the soils were colored purple, too.

Lastly, a wild flock of silver hair came out from behind the helmet and covered all of his body's back.

Overall, he looked like a revamped Blues.

"Legato – sama~! Mr. Gold-finger expects you to struggle~!"

"Needle Man! Those parodies are lame. I prefer M&F to those." Legato grumbled but didn't stop walking.

"Grrr! The family wants meat: I'll provide it! By Moriarty!"

"By Moriarty…? Hmpf! So you finally showed up. You've kept us waiting: four months!"

"The base construction took longer than expected, see~!"

Someone jumped down from a higher ledge and landed on the ground: Legato calmly drew a Long Sword with a customized hilt.

"Venomous Wolf's come~… Au~…"

This guy's helmet's color was a shade of green which looked closer to blue: the helmet was already rather reminiscent of a wolf with two small ear-like extensions popping out from the top and aiming upwards in a 45º angle.

Just below those there were two small curved orange stripes which looked like pupils: the round plain ear-pads had two small teal brown-colored paws emerging from the left side of them and forming a shape which reminded one of a crab's pincers.

Two larger paws aimed backwards popping from the NW and NE edges:

The forehead also had a white metallic triangle which could be the jaw: transparent greenish shades covered the eyes.

His shoulders were plain with a small circling brown band where the forearms emerged and two large paws popping out of the outer edges while curving like a shark's fins.

The chest armor included the initials "VW" written in an orange color

Other details were the two small squares of that same orange color set on the SW and SE corners of the armor.

The forearms' armor (starting at around the elbow and past the exposed segment of arm covered by green "skin") was rather simple in design having just a small ramp aiming past the armor and emerging from close to the upper edge: they were colored green too while the hands also were covered in green "skin".

His boots were also simple in design: they just had a trapeze-shaped piece of armor set vertically over the knees and one small triangle-like piece close to the star of the toes which had two small openings: it looked like it could vent off heat building up inside of the boots: the soils were plain metallic gray.

He was over a meter and fifty tall, maybe closer to sixty.

"Sieg." Legato announced.

"Yessir! Is _ani-ue-sama_ alright? He's hooked a girlfriend yet?" He grinned and looked amused.

"None of your concern." Legato coolly replied.

"Oho. You're still annoyed by the "surprise" I left under the bed and the "gizmo", eh?"

"He'd rather pretend you never existed."

"My, my, my… He's gotten very cold. Colder than Mr. Freeze." He snickered.

"Don't joke with Freeze Man."

"Who said I was joking?"

"Bring it on already."

"Sure! I bring out our juicy Field-affecting Battle _Card_! Hah!"

He formed a life-sized hologram of what could seem to be a Battle Chip but its edges and body were pale green instead: its text space was filled with unknown symbols.

The drawing was a green circle with twenty-two symbols set inside of it and, by looking closely at those, one could discern the fact that it was a same word of eleven characters long which was written twice.

The interior of the circle had some lines drawn on it which formed a kind of tall and narrow diamond with four pyramid-like extensions on both sides which popped out around the mid-section of the tall diamond figure: two diagonals lines were placed inside of the diamond itself, connecting the outer spooks and forming the shape of the Alphabet "X" character: the background behind the circle emitted a gray light which turned fainter upon reaching the inner border while the other four corners of the drawing were painted in a purple or black color.

"The Boundary…" Legato muttered.

"Yessir! The Oreichalcos Boundary! Engage! Ya would better start trembling in fear!"

He suddenly formed a pendant which had a narrow metallic-colored vertical hexagon shape and containing a small jewel-like object which seemed to be a processed fragment of some fluorescent mineral: the pendants' north end had a carved miniature human skull there and it was glowing.

"Here it comes!"

"Hmpf."

Some gray swirling clouds formed on the "sky": the same circle which was drawn in the Battle Card could be seen coming out of it and spinning as it descended towards ground level.

The circle descended and set itself in the ground while it slowed down until it stopped spinning altogether.

"So?"

Two parallel vertical lines formed as emerging from two of the symbols in both ends.

A new line formed to interconnect both parallel lines and created the shape of the Alphabet "N" character: a horizontal line spanning the whole width of the circle formed at the middle point across the "N" character's length: two more lines formed in both ends: the one in the left end headed upwards while the one in the right end headed downwards.

These lines made contact with the unused ends of the initial parallel lines and they completed the drawing which had been in the Battle Card: the whole thing shone with a pale green halo.

"Hmpf…"

He looked at Venomous Wolf who was hanging his head down, and spotted some kind of purple-colored "aura" around his body: he suddenly lifted his head: the same drawing had been superimposed over his usual forehead drawing and his eyes' irises had brightened further.

"Yessir! Extra 50% power to all of my Battle Cards!"

"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Dream Sword!"

"Hmpf! You had it ready on the "temp" directory! But! Wide Wave 3: 180 points of damage!"

"Hah. Like that'll stop an attack with 500 points of damage."

Legato hit the ground and the Dream Sword shot forward and easily cut through the incoming attack: Legato merely turned around as the Dream Sword hit the enemy but a cloud of smoke ensued and a statue of the Pokémon "Nendoll" appeared instead of Venomous Wolf: he reappeared in front of Legato and gasped because he wasn't expecting Legato to read his move: Legato merely delivered a kick to the chest and the guy hit an invisible wall to bounce off it and into the ground: he groaned.

"Damn it! How did you read that?"

"Your decision to use a Wide Wave told me. I thought you'd use an "Ojiouzan" but then I saw the grace."

"Shit. Training for a week and that's how it begins?"

"So? Is the view from Pluto _that_ magnificent?"

"P-Pluto? What has Pluto to do with anything? We were in Central Ameroupe!" He gasped and seemed to improvise his reply in a rush as he stood up.

"Please. Not being seen _anywhere on the world_ for _four months_… And the "red herring"… You were seen by Mr. Cassini."

"Who?"

"Mr. Cassini."

"Who's that? The Roman's step-brother?"

"Falcone's step-brother…? No." He snickered.

"Cassini, Cassini…! Sounds Italian… Wait a min! Seen by Mr. Cassini? I think Eisei told me something about that guy…!"

"No wonder. He's fond of _satellites_."

"Grjxt! A~h!" He gasped.

"Yeah. Cassini-Huygens, the probe orbiting Saturn and exploring its satellites which reached the planet over 7 years ago… Stealth camouflage doesn't work against IR and UV cameras. You reminded us of _Tsien_."

"Who's that?"

"Beat me."

"Che! Ice Spinning 3! 165 points!"

"Heh. Program Advance! Yo-yo, Triple Slot In! Great Yoyo!"

"Crap!"

Venomous Wolf formed a small red-colored penguin statuette with a dome-shaped base which began to spin upon its axis and trace diagonal pathways but he got hit by Legato's incoming Program Advance: he groaned and stepped back while Legato let the thing hit him but he didn't seem to mind the damage.

"Che! Impact Cannon! 360 points!"

Legato took the blast and barely recoiled from it: he grinned and Venomous Wolf frowned only to gasp.

"Damn it!"

"Muramasa Blade!"

"Sword Fighter X!"

He drew a slightly curved sword with an indented edge and colored red to attack five times in a row but Legato dodged each of the rushed attacks which lacked real aiming: Legato hit Venomous Wolf with the Muramasa Blade but the guy snickered.

"Muramasa Blade~!"

"Crap!"

Legato got hit by the blade, too, and stepped back while both recovered their breaths.

"Break Saber X! 375 points!"

"Crap. Breaker…!"

Venomous Wolf snickered and formed a metallic cone with a metallic formation circling around it as if they were a drill or a cutting device: he hit Legato with it and he growled from the blow while Venomous Wolf seemed to be getting cocky.

"Giant Axe! 480 points! And you can only bring 1 Muramasa per Folder: it's the rules!"

"Damn it! Gruoh! I got cocky or what?"

"Guess that! I expect you to be gone, Mr. Legato!"

"Eisei…! The jerk has been stirring up these _Gold-finger_ parodies!"

"Heh, heh, heh! I know your total HP clock at 2300 points and mine at 2200 so there's still a while to fight! But you've lost close to 2000 points by now! And I've just lost 1100!" He chuckled.

"Yo. Wolf. How's it goin'?" Someone asked over the radio.

"Gray? Fine. This guy's lowered the guard: he's been seeing too many _shota_ movies!"

"You lowlife!" Legato growled.

"Heh, heh, heh. As expected of _kyoudai_. You're always right."

"Eisei!"

"Yessir. Ms. Panama sends her greetings!"

"Oh yeah? Mr. Cassini tells you the NASA knows it!"

"W-what! Oh damn it! The Cassini thing! We thought it'd been shut down by now!" The guy gasped.

"Hah. Gotcha. So? Is Pluto worth it?"

"Not Pluto!"

"Sedna?"

"Kyutora!" Eisei growled.

"Kyutora? Wasn't there a _Duel Monster_ named like that? I know _Shunoros_ is one, yeah."

"The God of War!"

"Ah. So it's the equivalent to Mars in the On'Setsu pantheon." Legato grinned.

"And it'll bring war to you guys!"

"Starting with ya! Destroy Upper! 280 points!"

"Heh!"

Venomous Wolf rushed towards the guy but then stepped into a hidden mine and the explosion sent him flying and he hit the floor: he groaned while Legato snickered.

"300 points less for you… You've lost 1400!"

"Ground Wave X! 225 points!"

Legato didn't bother to dodge: the attack hit him and a cloud of smoke ensued: a _chibi_ doll of Legato dropped into the ground while Legato reappeared higher in the air and began to shoot out several _shuriken_ in a row which hit Venomous Wolf: he groaned from each blow and the crest on his forehead soon began to intermittently glow with a red color as if warning of something.

"Damn! Bodyguard Program Advance! I got tricked! Gruah!"

The last _shuriken_ hit him and he collapsed face-down on the ground: the whole "Boundary" glowed before it began to shrink until it converged on Venomous Wolf and vanished with a flash: Legato panted and formed a cocky grin while the guy growled.

"By Uncle Moriarty! This is NOTHING!" He challenged.

"Want a shake-down followed by a cold shower?"

"Heck no! I'm off! But we'll be back!"

"Che. When _aibou_ hears this his bad mood will get worse!"

Venomous Wolf snapped his right hand's fingers and formed some kind of "gateway" of black energy which emitted ripples distorting the air: he ran inside and vanished.

"Good work, Legato."

"Thank you, sir."

"Come back."

"Roger."

11:49 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So! The data NASA has withheld from the public was right: that space-station thing was the "Ark"… The project Kuroban worked on during the summer…"

"Yet… Where did they go to? New Horizons, which is between Uranus and Neptune, did take a photo too but they seemed to be heading into the Kuiper Belt… The planetoids there are too cold… And it's still pretty uncharted territory: we have the _Voyager 2_ data which is still received even nowadays…"

Legato was standing inside of an office room and talking with someone there.

This someone was a fellow whose height was around the same as Legato's yet there was something peculiar about his persona which stood out.

That "something" happened to be the fact that he was clad in a black European monk's robe with a heavy hood which hid his face: his hands were inside of the long and wide sleeves and the tunic hid his feet as well so only the voice told that he was a male: it was soft.

This office had a desk, two chairs for visitors, one for him, and a canvas depicting a German _u-boot_ surfaced in the middle of a lagoon somewhere which seemed to be somewhere in South Ameroupe.

"Maybe there's something else which they spotted?"

"Hmmm… Could be… The base they built could be isolated from the environment too… They want to make it harder for us or Mr. B. to hit their base… I guess those "machines" we found there and there are intended to allow for instant travelling between Earth and their new base."

"It sounds logical, Vice President _Noir_, sir. What do we tell the others?"

"That they were hiding in Central Ameroupe…"

"Alright. This information is delicate. It was a good idea from NASA and the ESA to keep it hush-hush. It could trigger a race by the private sector to try to launch reckless missions out of profits."

"And it reminded me of _Tsien_… In the novel _2010: Odyssey Two_, Choina builds a space-station in orbit and it suddenly ignites its thrusters and shoots out at a mad speed without breaking down until they reach the Jovian system and they land on Europa to refill their tanks with water and use it as a propellant…" _Noir_ muttered.

"Kage and Andy – kun know it, right?"

"Yeah. They know that they have to keep the info confidential…"

"What do we tell Mr. B.?"

"Hmmm… Guess we'll tell them the truth… They're a loner: they will keep the info secret…"

"Alright…"

"Did you make sure that no-one overheard your discussion with Sieg and Eisei?"

"Correct. Besides, that sector is pretty deep and the Viruses are pretty high-level. No normal grunt would dare to come there. It's close to the deepest sector, Sector 40… Yet… Who would set up a whole Virus Lab down there and why didn't we notice?"

"We didn't think to put "nodes": we prioritized the surface levels because that's where most of the suspicious folk gather at. As for the lab, I suspect it being Choina's… Legally, the Reverse Internet is a no-man's-land so they have the right to build that there. The hacking rumors were no joke: yet we don't want them to gain too much power either… They could try to use those to silence critics… And that we won't tolerate… Zero has begun to scan the building… In a few days… We'll decide what to do."

"Roger. By the way… Will it be _Gray_, sir?" He smiled.

"Heh. That remains to be seen. Dunno when we'll get the news…"

"Roger, sir. The new year will soon kick in with excitement."

"Of course. Uncle Moran's nephews are gonna rob them the spotlight."

"Obviously, sir! And then there were no spotlights… Heh, heh, heh…"


	3. Chapter 3: Angel Vs Angel

**Chapter 3: Angel Vs Angel**

07:45 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday December the 31st…

"… OK! Miquel – kun! Wake up!"

"Hmmm… Five more minutes, Andy – chan…"

"OI!"

"Yikes!"

"That's a confession?"

"W-well…"

A Navi had been standing inside of a metallic bedroom which had two beds, two adjacent pieces of furniture with one drawer each, a square table, two chairs and a cupboard.

This Navi's whole body with the exception of his forearms and boots was painted in a bright silver color.

The boots and forearms, however, had been tinted in a slightly rusted bronze color and a bronze-colored thin vertical stripe ran across his body from the neck to the end of the crotch crossing over his silver-edged chest emblem.

His eyes' irises were a mix of blood red and golden: some silver-colored hair could be seen emerging from beneath his helmet as well.

He could be around Legato's height or a bit shorter.

"Kage Miquel – kun! What did THAT mean?"

"Yikes! A-Andy! Don't get angry, man!"

A guy had been napping in one of the beds and he was now sitting on it while apologizing to Andy.

He had neatly combed blonde hair and blue eyes irises: he seemed to be about 15 or 16 years old.

He wore black pajamas.

"Explain THAT." He icily commanded.

"W-well… I just… thought that you a… well, a pitch, and…"

"… Hmpf."

He headed for a door on the south side of the room (there was another on the right) and opened it before shutting from the outside: Kage sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Lovely way to wake up on New Year's Eve…"

He climbed off the bed and stretched before he headed for the right door which led to a connecting corridor: this corridor had a door on the west and another on the right: he entered the second and stepped into a bathroom: he opened the faucet of the sink and washed his face before drying with a towel.

"Jeez. Let's go fetch the towel."

"Good morning to all of our public!" A voice rang out through a speaker close by.

"Video Man, huh."

"Shah, shah, shah! Needle 'em all!"

"Needle Man too…"

"_Marchando_! _Imagine~! A burning fella~_!"

"Burner Man… The V-B-N trio, huh…"

"Today we bring you… "Influence Jam"! A tale about corrupt politicians using their influences to gain easy and quick money…!"

"Well. We'll see how it'll be like…"

He headed back to the room and opened the cupboard to pick a pair of black boxers and socks followed by a simple black t-shirt and a black wool jumper: he also selected a pair of jeans.

"OK. Let's pick the towel and get there."

He picked a yellowish towel and headed back into the corridor: he opened the west door and stepped into a shower room: he locked the door from the inside and started up the showers once he'd removed his pajamas and the blue boxers.

"Ah… Hot… I needed it… This December's being cold… Well! I should pay a visit to Hikari – kun. He's tackled the 4th year and ended up with good grades: I also did that through a virtual tutor… And Leon – kun also ended the first trimester of 1st year… It's good to see he's gained some friends and he's slowly burying his tragic past…"

"Heh! Video Man is the guy who goes first! … "Alright, Cabestroiro! Drive Mortadelo & Filemón until my office!" … "Go! Move it, folk! Tsk, tsk, tsk!" … "Devil! Mr. Super! You could've hired a Paris waitress instead of a farmhand from Mondoñedo, Lugo! Couldn't you?" … "This is degrading, repelling and humiliating!"… "Come on, come on! It's no big deal! What do you want? Some alfalfa… I mean! Some mineral water? Faucet water? Nothing?"…"

"So that means that the farmhand guy treated them like they were farm animals, huh?" Kage seemed to guess what had happened.

"Burner Man, the burning fella, is next! "Well! I called you to deal with the political scandal topic… You've heard of it, right?" … "Obviously! Half of them fell asleep in the Chamber…!" … "And Mr. President scolded them 'cause their snores woke up the other half! Ho, ho, ho, ho!"…"

"What a crazy Parliament!"

Kage was rubbing his hair with shampoo after he'd turned off the shower: he turned it on again.

"… "That's not it, you morons! I mean that so-called influence traffic, which has gone outta bounds and become the… Influence Jam!" …"Heh! Like I didn't know of it! Boss influenced his brother-in-law to make the basement's drains and see the result!" … "When it comes to construction permits, there have been some scandalous things which make you think they've all gone MAD!" … "Well! Man! No need to exaggerate!" … "Exaggerate? See the new block in the adjacent grounds, see!"…"

"Too close to their own office building…?" Kage wondered.

He was now rubbing the body lotion over his body.

"… "And if we check the grounds, then… It's unbelievable! See where they erected the building, see!" … "Well, it's just a sandy terrain which…" … "Of course it's sandy! Where are the _corridas_ going to be held at?"…"

"No way… They built it in the bull-ring's arena!" Kage groaned.

"…"Another guy managed to exclusively gain the management of parks and gardens!" … "They have a good fleet of water trucks, I take it?" …"No! They have a fellow who was the Comanche sorcerer!" … "Come on, come on! Put more emphasis on the rain dance! Things are a bit dry over there!" … "There's another which got two city services!" … "Projects & failures?" … "No! Trash recollection and funerary services!"… "This is scandalous!" … "A shame!" … "Ah! If my poor Emiliano saw this…!"…"

"What the heck? They tried to have a Comanche sorcerer invoke the rain so as to save up all money on irrigation? And what happened with the second thing…? Oi! It couldn't be, right? That the trash recollection trucks also brought coffins to the graveyard…! I knew these comics are a parody of reality but, still…!"

He'd finished showering and he was drying his body by now as he headed back to the room and began to dress up.

"… "But this affair is gonna end! We suspect a certain Hugo Note, second cousin to the Minister of Autonomic Affairs is taking profit of his family relationship, so you're going to sneak on his house and carry out a discreet search… Search for names, figure out who tips him off, how much money he's handling… Anything! They gave me the guy's direction on the archive! Go there on the double! Move it!" … "Yes, Mr. Super… Dude~! Move the waist…"…"

"Well. That sounds more logical."

He also picked a brown overcoat and a black bandana with a logo on it which was Andy's (a golden five-pointed star set against a black background and with a silver circle) and tied it around his forehead.

".. "This is the house… How do we get in?" … "Easy, Boss! I'll use my ghost disguise! I sneak through the wall and…!" CLONC! … "T-the disguise house guys are gonna hear from me! They'll hear from me!"…!"

"Jeez. Just because it's a ghost disguise that doesn't mean you can cross walls like you were a real ghost!"

"… Shah, shah, shah! My turn to shine came~…! "Come on, come on! It's on the 5th floor… I'll climb through the outside and get in through an open window…!" … "Beeej! This burning reeks of cow's stuff! Maybe there was gasoil in the bottle! I'll throw it into the street! I don't want to taste it ever!" … UA~H!" … "Why! Then Agent Peribañez was right when he said that our job burnt you out! Well, well! It was nothing! It was a comment, see!"…"

"How crazy."

He picked a pair of sunglasses and stored them in a case which he pocketed before coming out into a corridor: he headed north and glanced at the other doors close by which all had an interphone plus keyboard next to them.

"This is _Purgatory_, our HQ… Golden Star's HQ…"

He headed north and eventually ended up into a square-shaped cafeteria space with about six round tables each having six chairs set around them: there was a counter and the entrance to a kitchen built in the eastern side of the wide room: a row of three portholes in the western wall provided natural illumination plus that of the fluorescent light tubes in the ceiling.

There was one Navi behind the counter apparently busy wiping dishes and glasses with a cloth: Dark Man, former member of the "Dark Four Heavenly Kings": he was humming a tune but stopped when he noticed him.

"Ah! Kage – dono. Good morning."

"Yo. Dark Man. Did ya see Andy?"

"He headed up to the deck. He looked annoyed, for once."

"Huff. Guess that."

"Good morning, Miquel – san."

"Oh! Leon – kun. Been a while…"

A young guy about 12 or 13 years old stepped in.

He looked slightly over a meter and fifty tall and had white messy hair plus eyes with brown irises: his face was smooth and he had a good "profile" to him.

He wore a green wool sweater, jeans and white sneakers.

"Yes. By the way… It's been confirmed?"

"Yeah. Sieg and _Shunoros_ are back."

"Hum. It was a matter of time." He wasn't surprised.

"But don't worry: the guy will surely just try to provoke you by showing up around you but you just ignore them."

"I know."

"Yo."

"Burner Man. I thought you were broadcasting."

"I can continue from here."

Burner Man walked over to them.

He struck as being around a meter and sixty tall or above.

His eyes didn't have irises on them and were colored blue.

His head was surrounded by a blood red metallic helmet which had two of those fang-like objects set on both sides of it: his emblem was set on the forehead and its drawing was a simplistic oval-shaped flame colored sky blue.

Red metallic armor was built over his upper body and it had four metallic objects shaped like fangs set over the shoulders.

Each one had a yellow stripe close to the backwards edge which had a small blackish metallic cover on it.

His shoulders were oddly placed lower than they should be at, half-way down the upper body: two short black arms without elbows emerged from them and ended in long cylinders colored red with a yellow stripe and having black hands at their end: the emblem was repeated there.

The body below the armor had armor with some vertical stripes set on them: his legs were free of armor until just past the knee: two cylinders with the same coloring pattern as the ones in the arms were set there and two armored feet with black soils emerged from below them.

"Alright. Bring us omelet sandwich. By the way: what happened to Filemón earlier?"

"Heh! He was escalating the building when a guy who spoke in an accented way threw out a boiling something and he got burnt."

"I see." Leon didn't seem surprised.

"… "Ah! I see the solution! There's a chimney on the roof… So I'm going to get out through there, I get into the flat and unlock the door… Go! Get in through the stairs! OK! I'm going down into the building! This hole is the 5th floor's one! Let's go! A~h!" SPLASH! CRONCH! … "Heh! It turns out the door was unlocked. Where's Mortadelo at?"… "Here, Boss! GRFTJX! It'd seem they remodeled the fireplace and they use the chimney for the toilet's ventilation!" … "Why! He stuffed the head in? But I thought that what went there was the… the…"…" … "Puaj! I'm gonna have to buy barrels of "Channel 7"!"… "Come on! Let's see if we can find some evidence to incriminate Hugo Note! Look! That cupboard has a suspicious look! Let's check it out!"… "Devil! What in the…?"… "OW!"… TCHAC! … "Huh? Who opened the freezer's door where we store the shellfish? We're missing the Ría do Vigo spider-crab!"…"

"Huff. So they got their noses pinched by the pincers of the spider-crab, huh?"

"Guess that. They always get into trouble."

"…"Repulsing and damned thing! Let them be slowly fried in a soy oil frying pan!" …"Coastal morons! I'll complain to Don Manuel Fraga!"… "See that button, Boss! I'm sure it hides some secret door!" … "Then let's open it up! Heh, heh! This Hugo guy is going to feel a blow on the head!"… CLOC! CLOC! …"

"More trouble!" Leon rolled his eyes.

"Undoubtedly."

"… "Do you hear that sound, Silveiro?" … "I hear it! Sounds like a church bell singing the two o'clock. Look! The smokehouse-boot is swinging alone!" … "Weird, isn't it? Unless you press that button then it shouldn't do that!" … "Dear! What a BLOW! DEAR ME~!" … "Gl, gl, gl!"…"

"Shah, shah, shah! "Devil! What a weird machine!" … "It must be to intercept phone calls or something like that, I guess?" … "How the heck must it work like?" … "There's a lever… Let's see what happens." … TCHACH! OUA~GH! … "Yeah, a gizmo to make sure the cider doesn't turn bad… You don't know it? Look! If you only drink half of the bottle, you lower the lever and a cork is stuffed through pressure… And the other half will remain conserved for a while!" … "Fantastic!" … "Intercept phone calls… Grmblfj! I'm going to give you lever! I'll give you yet!" … "What are cha saying? Boss? Don't be so hostile! I'm innocent and chaste and not guilty!"… "The thing's about to jell!" … "Yeah! We'll be rich!" … "Did ya listen, Boss?" … "Yeah! The thing's about to produce lotta gold! Some dirty business related to those influences!" … "Let's go! Let's stain ourselves and figure out what the deal's about!"… FLATCH! "PUA~J!" … "Huh? What happened with the Galician tit cheese which was jelling here?" … "It's full of rubbish! Now we can't sell it and become rich!"…"

"I'm starting to suspect that ain't Hugo's house." Leon muttered.

"I get that feeling myself. I think they're Galician guys. Maybe he moved?"

"… "Ah! I finally found you two! I came to warn you! Did you know? Something funny happened! It turns out the archive guys mistook it and instead of giving me Hugo's house address they gave me the Lugo House address! Hah, hah! Isn't it funny?"…"

"I knew it. So their whole ordeal was in vain because the archive guys mixed up Hugo and Lugo." Kage sighed.

"Oh my." Dark Man chuckled.

Both finished their sandwiches and water cups and Dark Man took the dishes to the kitchen.

"… "What's wrong? What's with that face? You didn't think it was funny? Aren't you laughing?" … "You imbeciles! Ouch! Get me outta here! I'll remember this!" … "But, Mr. Super! It's laughable, really! Wait, wait and you'll soon laugh at it!" … "Bah! Ignore the guy! Some types are never satisfied!" … Heh! M&F tied Mr. Super to a tree the trunk of which is going to collapse inwards and break his spinal cord! Talk about sadistic!"…"

"Huff." Leon looked elsewhere.

"They should've picked another word." Kage grumbled.

"Yo."

"Zarashe. Where's Beta X?"

"Checking the Virus Lab thing… We think Nate Gunray's financing it."

"Nate Gunray? The Trade Federation Viceroy…? From the original trilogy…? How funny."

A guy joined them.

He looked as being over a meter and sixty tall in height and he struck as being around sixteen years old.

He had jet black hair was totally uncared for having small spikes aiming everywhere: his eyes' irises were emerald green.

His choice of clothes consisted on a black t-shirt with no decoration, a pair of jeans and black boots plus fingerless gloves.

He carried his Link PET with a golden Alphabet "X" character as an emblem and colored blue and white on the arm-strap.

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's see what Shunoros will come up with next!"

08:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Alright. I planted sensors around the Virus Lab to figure out more about it so I'm going back."

"So! My fellow angel. Are you going to become one of the Four Great Angels of Cruxis?"

"Huh? Cruxis? Isn't that featured in _Tales of Symphonia_?"

"True, Beta X! Guess who's here."

"… End Angel."

A Navi had been inspecting a large dome-shaped construct in the depths of the Reverse Internet which could some hundreds of meters wide and some tens of tall.

This Navi appealed as being close to a meter and seventy centimeters tall.

His main body's color choice was black: he had a white piece of armor set over the chest which contained a ruby jewel and two wing-like extensions spreading across the torso until the shoulders: the golden-colored Alphabet "X" character was set within a piece of armor located over the upper edge of the ruby.

His eyes' irises were blood red in coloring but they lacked pupils: his facial expression denoted seriousness.

His helmet's main color was black as well yet he had some blue pieces of armor built around the edges of it and across the middle of the helmet: the ruby had been set directly above his nose and was aiming downwards along his helmet's front part.

The helmet included five extensions shaped like wings and colored white plus a golden edge: two formed on the lower edge of the helmet, another two formed at a height over the eyes and the last one sprouted from the middle of his helmet while aiming upwards.

A golden edge surrounded his neck and formed a small collar-like object around it: his shoulders had white armor over them.

Three thin spear-like extensions formed behind them and gave off the impression of a wing as well: the uppermost piece was golden in coloring while the other two pieces were white.

His arms' skin was black until the elbow: white armor encompassed it and extended until the hands and fingers: a golden ring served as additional protection for the wrists.

The rest of his upper body had no decoration whatsoever until the hips, where the leg armor began at: a golden edge in the shape of a triangle marked the start of it.

The remainder of the legs' armor was painted using white color palette: the knees had extra armor over them and two small and short wing-like extensions.

Golden pieces of armor showed up over the ankles yet there was a space between them and the legs: they were bent upwards to form a triangle and included the wing shapes on their edges.

Lastly, his feet's armor included two pieces of outer edge and another two pieces which were separated by a slight space between the front and the rear of them.

Overall, his appearance was reminiscent of a "fallen angel" given the color motifs and all the winged extensions.

"Heh, heh, heh! End Angel's come! And I'm still checking out the new _Zelda_ game… That "Shuuen no Mono" guy, whoever they are, seems to be really fearsome! I take after the guy's name, see!"

A new opponent descended into the area using their wings.

The helmet's mail color was white and it was shaped like a swan as seen from above with the beak's upper edge running past the forehead and providing some "shade" to the face: the side edges had black painting over them and formed a trapeze-like drawing.

The sides of the helmet per se consisted on a navy blue piece of armor over a round white circle.

A blue piece of armor shaped like an inclined seat emerged from there travelled down until the base of the neck: bluish transparent shades covered the eyes.

His forehead had the _kanji_ for _shuuen_ or "end" written on it using blood red coloring too but currently hidden below the "Forbidden Boundary" crest.

The chest armor had the initials "EA" written in blood red color and set on the protruding upper edge of the armor which was white in color: a small depression at the middle formed the shape of the "V" letter: a blue-colored thin stripe ran across the armor to then form a vertical column aiming downwards: the small space at the SW and SE edges of the armor below the blue stripe was colored white.

Two smooth wings came out from behind the body's shoulder armors: they were built of three pieces split by thin black lines: the first piece had a one-third-portion colored metallic gray but the rest of it had a navy blue coloring to it as it extended and ended in a diagonal angle aiming SW: the second piece was colored white instead and shared the exact length while the third piece was shorter and about half the length of the others.

The shoulder armors were made of spheroids with a small triangle aiming downwards and protecting part of the arm from the sides.

The rest of his design was identical to the others when it came to the forearms, boots and knee protections.

"Heh, heh, heh… Ms. Panama sends greetings!"

"So you're in Panama. Aren't the mosquitoes annoying?"

"We have an energy field to repel them!"

"How devious of you."

"Heh, heh, heh. Angel VS Angel! Let's go! Oreichalcos Boundary!"

"Hmpf."

"Let the angels hit the skies!"

"Now it's a _Bodies_ parody?"

"Yeah! Let's go! Arcane Sword! Power bonus! 375 points!"

"Huff. Program Advance! Hi Cannon, Triple Slot In! Giga Cannon!"

"Ojiouzan!"

"Guack! Gruah!"

"Hah!"

End Angel formed the statuette and the lightning bolt hit Beta X as End Angel flew towards him and drew a blade with some runes written on its surface and a brownish hilt: he plunged into the right hip and Beta X growled as he stepped back.

"Luckily I wasn't in Water Mode…"

"It is gonna be a _Gray_ 2012."

"Come on! We can't know yet if it'll be _Gray_ or not. It sounds too obvious: think about how they made Pikachuu and the overseas guys renamed it Yellow…"

"And then everyone said it was gonna be _Marble_ but it became _Platinum_ in the end." End Angel snickered.

"Fight!"

"And not fight."

"What?"

"Let the fight hit the arena!"

"Stop joking! Spread Gun, Triple Slot In! Hyper Burst!"

"Arcane Shield! It acts as a Stone Cube so it'll nullify the damage and be destroyed."

He formed a black shield with the word "shuuen" or "end" written on its center using a red font and with no other decorations: he flung it forward and it got destroyed by the attack while cancelling it up.

"Giza Wheel X! 270 points!"

"Fire Mode! Flamethrower! 100 per hit: 3 hits! Total: 300!"

Beta X's armor colors switched to red and orange.

"Not bad! Come! Heat up my passion!"

"Oi, oi."

The flamethrower melted the spinning disc with needles on it which End Angel had thrown towards Beta X and hit End Angel but he didn't seem to mind those: he grinned.

"Ice Mode! Ice Spread! 50 per projectile: 6 in total! 300!"

His armor changed to sky-blue coloring: he shot a curved mass of ice which shattered into multiple fragments and they stabbed different parts of End Angel's body: he didn't seem to mind those either.

"Elec Mode! Spark Sphere! 300!"

The armor now became greenish and he formed an electrical sphere which latched into the guy.

"Weird. I must've delivered over 900 HP of damage… A Muramasa strategy, then…? But Muramasa will deal 500 HP max… I've got 2150 and he's got about 2350…"

"Death Blade! Return ALL damage!"

"E~H? NO WAY~!"

"Way! Eat this up!"

His blade now glowed with a menacing red tint and the "Shuuen" _kanji_ showed up within its body: he lifted it up and an invisible dome became visible, turning reddish: some streaks of lightning jumped down and hit Beta X all of a sudden one after the other: he roared and collapsed on his knees, panting.

"Shit. I've lost about 1500 HP by now! That's what happens when I don't think the consequences of my actions!"

"Heh, heh, heh. And I've barely lost 1000 HP… I guess the "Shuuen no Mono" guy is on my side."

"You don't wanna see how ugly he is."

"Uglier than Ganondorf? I guess that, yeah. Girahimu's cool but he's fed up with playing the nice guy. Now Link has to find the pieces of the Hero's Song to find the Triforce's resting place… Hah! Judgment!"

"What?"

"Is that…?"

"Under the shinning name of the Lord, may the Light of Judgment fall as rain upon those impure souls who crawl in the World! Rest in peace, you who are burdened by your sins! Judgment!"

End Angel closed his eyes and placed his blade horizontally as he began to chant and a white/golden glow formed around him before streaks of white/golden energy began to fall down around Beta X who tried to air-dash and escape them but one impacted him followed by another four in a row.

"D-damn! Each of these delivers 150 of damage! 600 of damage to me and I've got barely 50 HP left to me! You ripped that off!"

"Sure. If Gray ripped "100,000 Volts", then… I'll go for something more _artistic_… I used Kratos Aurion's incantation. Heh, heh, heh."

"Shit."

"The end! Radar Missile!"

A red circle formed in front of Beta X and a large missile impacted on him: he groaned and collapsed face-down on the ground: the "Boundary" glowed and converged on End Angel.

"You need to train more, Beta X… Ruthless Vine sends his greetings!"

He laughed as he flew skywards and Beta X groaned.

"Fuck. I lowered the guard. How lovely! We're in trouble…!"

12:12 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Come on, Andy… Let's settle it, already!"

"HMPF!"

"Oh man…"

"Hah! So cha aren't perfect, Miquel!"

"Tozukana Joanne – san…! Please don't bring me more tension!"

"You heard him, Joanne – chan. Behave."

"Don't worry, Lily! All's under control!"

Kage had been discussing with Andy in a corner of a large deck which had a gigantic cover suspended over it and some small buildings built upon it: Andy was looking at the ocean in front of him and giving the back to Kage while being still annoyed: a giggle rang out and Kage sighed.

"So! The red-haired gal ditched ya?"

"We were never a couple."

Tozukana Joanne struck as being close to sixteen years old or maybe seventeen thus being older than Kage.

Her hair was tinted black even though some patches of brown hair could be seen beneath it and her eyes' irises were brown.

She seemed to be wearing a black leather one-piece suit which covered her body starting slightly beneath the shoulders.

She also had a pair of black knee-high plastic boots plus two attached ammunition round-holding compartments.

Her Link PET was colored purple and black and its symbol was the Alphabet "L" character surrounded by a golden edge.

She currently held a PSG-1 sniper rifle on her hands which she was aiming at the ground while grinning at Kage.

"What's wrong, Andy?"

"… Hmpf."

"Well. We had a little quarrel, see, Lily."

"That's weird."

Her Navi, Lily, had a _Goth_ look to her given her use of heels, two metallic loose bracelets in her forearms and a collar with spikes protruding from it around her neck.

Her helmet's forehead had the word "Goth" engraved on it using scarlet red letters and her eyes' irises were also scarlet red: her expression denoted annoyance.

The bodysuit's predominant color was black with some patches of white scattered like stains there and there.

"I just happened to come up with a nickname but he didn't like it."

"I see."

"Hmpf."

"Hah! So! What are cha gonna do?" Tozukanna grinned.

"Nothing's changed, Joanne – san. And we don't want to star invoking the anger of Ms. Secretary, do we?" Kage sighed.

"Che. The gal…!" She grumbled.

"Come on, Andy! Cheer it up! We're going to Hikari – kun's place to celebrate the New Year's Eve! Don't you wanna meet with Rock Man?"

"Hmpf."

"Man."

"So? Hikari stole the gal from ya~?"

"No. They're childhood friends but that's ALL there's to it."

"Apart from Fatman's lies?"

"Who told you that?"

"I got a mail from that Eisei guy."

"I knew it. The guy stirs up trouble wherever he goes to!"

"You needn't tell me. Those guys have improved. That End Angel beat Beta X and revamped his whole strategy." Zarashe came in from the south while looking defeated.

"So! Wan! Is the bitch using you to fuck?"

"E~H? No!" He protested.

"Ah! So she whips ya and ya want to feel the whip!"

"No!" He grumbled.

"Or she teases ya and she has you be her pet?"

"Joanne – chan…!" Lily annoyingly whispered.

"The craziest ship in the world…!" Kage grumbled.

"Hmpf."

"Oh my. Were cha talking about me?"

"Ikada Bertha. About time cha showed up, bitch."

"My ears are burning."

Ikada Bertha happened to be a woman on her early 20s and having long platinum blond hair plus eyes with blue irises to them: she had a ruthless-like figure to her.

She sported a simple green t-shirt covered by black leather sleeveless vest plus navy blue jeans and a pair of black boots.

She carried simplistic-looking black handbag hanging from the right shoulder while a cobalt-colored Link PET with a golden-colored Alphabet "S" character on it as emblem was set on her arm-strap.

"Bertha – chan. You want to stir up trouble too?"

"Who knows, Sandra?"

"Cha do!"

Sandra's bodysuit's main color was cobalt coupled with a golden band around the waist, golden shoulder plates and golden bracelets on both the wrists and the ankles.

Spiral-shaped magenta patterns travelled down her arms' and legs' surfaces while eight lines of the same color spread from the blackish edge of her chest emblem.

Her helmet had a ruby set on its forehead and her eyes irises' was green: her face was shaped like a woman on her late teens or early 20s and its profile had an almost smooth shape to it.

She looked annoyed.

"So! Wan is cha pet."

"More or less. I tease him. But we don't mix." She shrugged.

"Hmpf! Whatever."

"Heh, heh, heh. Yo. Mistress. Join the club." A voice rang out from Tozukana's PET.

"Eisei." Kage grumbled.

"Kage! Your cousin Shadow Man's waiting for ya!"

"I'm fed up with that joke."

"1900 times?"

"Ooyama, you mean? Huff. Yeah. Rock Man told Andy."

"Hmpf."

"Oho. Our glorious Andy is annoyed. He wants his Anderson title back."

"What the heck is that?" Sandra asked.

"Ya see, Miss, it means he's a macho guy."

"Huff. I doubt that." Lily muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Relax! At least he's not as bad as Leiter."

"Yeah. Felix Leiter's a robot!"

"Felix _Qong_!" Kage corrected.

"And he's not a robot! He was a child soldier! That's why he's so cold and dull: he went through so many traumas…!" Lily defended.

"Eisei Aaron! Show up and fight me!" Sandra challenged.

"Too bad. I'm eager to check out Dark Man. Ah yeah! Urateido says he'd rather have Burner Man. I dunno if Freeze Man will get a foe."

"Urateido! The bastard!" Andy growled.

"We'll set a curse on his hair." Kage grumbled.

"Oho. Scary, scary~… See ya, Misses!"

"What a naughty _boy_." Ikada giggled.

"That ain't funny." Both Lily and Sandra snapped at her.

"Video Man and the others aren't either?"

"Huff!" Both complained.

"Hmpf. So I guess one of the others will come for me. Whatever. I'll bring out my Ryuusei Form and beat them." Andy muttered with some annoyance on his voice.

"Now, now! Let's not feed violence." Kage warned.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Andy icily shot back.

"Come on! It was a joke! You needn't take it like that!"

"Hmpf! Tell those jokes to Needle Man and the others!"

"No good… Guess we're going to have a rough start to 2012…"

"And a sweet _shuuen_ to 2011… Tee, heh, heh!" Ikada giggled.

_Man! Shunoros ain't kidding this time around. This doesn't fare good…!_


	4. Chapter 4: The Corvus Descended

**Chapter 4: The Corvus Descended**

08:24 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday January the 5th, 2012…

"… Good morning! Miss Suzuki. Miss Akemi."

"Hi, Dark Man."

"'Morning, Dark Man."

"There's a free table."

"Thank you."

Two girls walked into the Golden Star cafeteria and were greeted by Dark Man, who signaled an empty table: both sat down there.

"Well! Suzuki Martha – chan. We're finally into the year 2012, eh?"

"Yes, Akemi. Now we'll see if it'll be a _Gray_ year or not."

"This pun has become popular!"

Suzuki Martha appealed to be in her late teens and had long brown hair reaching past her shoulders and up until the waist: her eyes' irises were brown too and she had a good profile.

She wore a simple reddish wool jumper, jeans and white socks and a pair of brown sneakers.

She also sported the arm-strap for a Link PET colored teal brown and yellow and having the Alphabet "A" character colored golden and set inside of a brownish-edged circle as emblem.

"Sure has, Akemi."

Akemi was a Navi appealing to be around a meter and seventy tall whose main body color was teal brown accompanied by greenish irregular stains across her bodysuit.

Her helmet had the drawing of a flower on the forehead and her eyes' irises were green emerald: her face was smooth and slightly attractive when seen from a profile.

Her forearms and boots had three consecutive greenish rings drawn across them: each ring had some small yellowish stains scattered inside of them at random.

Some greenish hair flowed out from behind her helmet and reached until the shoulders.

"Yo. I came to deliver a poem about gray and black and white!"

"Jeez. Oscar – kun. That joke's running old."

"Until we know if it'll be _Gray_… It won't expire, Alex!"

"Lovely."

"Ah! Atarasei Oscar – kun. Good morning."

"Hi there, Alex."

A new guy walked into the cafeteria along with his Navi partner and sat down opposite Suzuki while joking.

The guy, Atarasei Oscar, could be around Kage's age and had the same approximate height too: his body was thin, athletic, and had good build to it which was proof of his apparently continuous exercises.

His jet black hair was a wild flock which knew no order or pattern and extended until the base of his neck.

His eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses.

He sported a navy blue overcoat over a bluish wool jumper, a pair of navy blue jeans tightened with a black leather belt: a pair of wool socks covered his feet and he used black sneakers for footing.

"Well! So! What's the newest epigram?"

"Jeez. Alex. That joke's running old."

"A joke for a joke."

"How funny."

"Heh. It's my little payback."

Alex was a Net Navi who could be about a meter and seventy tall, three to four inches taller than Atarasei.

His helmet had a golden-colored "Alpha" drawing set on its forehead and it was colored in an azure color with golden bands circling the ear-pads and the edges of the helmet: some azure hair popped out from behind the helmet and stretched until the base of the neck.

His face was shaped to look like that of a guy on his late teens: his eyes' irises were azure and he had an air of "elegancy" to him.

His chest armor had a silver vest built over its surface which appealed as being a layer of extra armor and which ended at the height of the chest emblem: the emblem had a bronze-colored edge and its inner color was platinum: it contained the "alpha" symbol on its very center.

His shoulders were covered in sturdy black armor from which some yellow-colored lines originated to travel down the arms' length: his forearm armor only encompassed the forearm and not the elbow to seemingly allow for further movement: four red circling bands spiraled around its length and ended at the knuckles of his fingers: both arms' color was navy blue yet the forearms and fingers' choice of color palette was sky blue.

His legs' knee protections had been painted white but they had diamond-colored circles varying in diameter set on them: three circles in total spread from the centermost point of the knee protection.

The boots had three pearl-colored bands circling the upper edge, the ankle, and the start of the toe fingers: their general color kept on being navy blue.

"Fine, fine. So! Who do you think you'll meet in Hell?"

"Jeez. The Reverse Internet isn't Hell."

"Dante's ghost?"

"More like the Demon King, the "Shuuen no Mono"…"

"Oho. He was cool, eh?"

"Guess that."

"And macho."

"That joke was silly."

"Totally." Both girls muttered with a hint of annoyance.

"Yikes."

"Thin ice, Mr. Atarasei, thin ice." Alex warned.

"I expect you to slip, Mr. Alex!" He tried to joke back but he was still annoyed.

"Come on, come on. Let's not begin a fight." Dark Man suggested as he brought the menus.

"Alright. Huff." Atarasei sighed.

He took off the sunglasses and stored them on the case: his eyes' irises were blue too.

"OK! I'll have the ham sandwich." Suzuki decided.

"Bring me an omelet sandwich." Akemi requested.

"Well! I'd rather have a salami one." Alex grinned.

"Huff. I would like a salami one too."

"Ham, omelet, two salamis… What will you drink?"

"Water."

"And four waters…"

"_Marchando_!" Burner Man exclaimed from the kitchen.

"Heh. I like that motto." Atarasei grinned.

"But, really… I wouldn't have thought Kage – kun and Andy would quarrel over a nickname… Guess Andy can be too susceptible…"

"Guess that, Mr. Holmes."

"Oi. Joel Agoras – kun is the Holmes fan."

"And his Navi, Victor, is Dr. Watson."

"How funny."

"A joke for a joke!"

"Fine~…"

"Here are the orders."

"Thanks!"

"By the way… Is there some gossip about us in the DNN?" Alex asked.

"Lots but it'd seem the big bosses don't think it's worth mentioning it: they seem to think we're some "club of computer geeks" and they want to showcase more "patriotic" news… They're somewhat old-fashioned! It annoys me from time to time!" Akemi complained.

"I wouldn't have guessed that."

"And what do they think "patriotic" news is…? A documentary about _MGS'_ "Patriots"?" Atarasei joked.

"How funny." Suzuki directed a hostile glare at him.

"Yikes! Gimme a break, Suzuki – san! It was a joke!"

"Those "Patriots" weren't funny. See what they did to Ms. Olga!" Alex protested.

"Huff. Guess I suck at these."

"You do."

"Fine~… Can we at least go check the Virus Lab thing?"

"Alright. But I'll remind you that you're not good at jokes." Alex reminded him.

"The orders are here."

"Yum! Alright! _Itadakimasu_!"

09:55 AM (Japan Time)…

"… See? That's the building."

"Hum! Intriguing, by Merton."

"Dooming, by Moriarty!"

"Heck. One of them."

"Yessir. The Corvus has descended!"

"Evil Corvus… Urateido Samuel."

"I expect you to die, Mr. Alex!"

"More _Gold-finger_ parodies. Eisei's been busy."

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"So? Dullahan acts the moron again?"

"Sure. The Prince is fed up with the fool."

"No wonder. If Daikani – sama already was, about a year ago…"

Alex had been standing in a platform and using binoculars to check the Virus Lab building from afar when a voice rang out so he automatically drew a Long Blade Battle Chip.

"Heh, heh, heh."

A new enemy floated down into the spot.

His helmet's topmost spot had a small diamond-shaped purple piece of armor directly over his head to shield it despite the rear of it being open and unprotected: the dominant color here was a shade of metallic-like gray coloring plus two small parallel lines which looked like a reclined seat symbol when seen from the profile, starting on the forehead's armor lower edge and reaching until the end of the helmet's length.

Another curious feature was two large wing-like extensions popping out of both sides of the head: a pair of transparent reddish shades protected his eyes.

The chest armor's centermost spot contained the Alphabet initials "DC" painted in blood red color there: it included a partial ring around the base of the neck to shield it and a thin orange stripe signaling the border between the neck's base and the start of the armor: the frontal plate protruded out of it while forming a shape reminiscent of an hexagon yet slightly different at the same time.

The shoulders' armor included orange stripes which got thinner as they headed for the outer edges and two extensions aiming downwards like triangles protecting part of the arms: two small wing-like triangles originated on the eastern and western sides of the shoulders' armor and extended in a diagonal angle.

The forearms and boots design was a total copy of that of the other "Shunoros" members colored on his own shade of gray coloring and having metallic soils on the boots.

"So. You and Eisei keep on plotting?" Atarasei questioned.

"Plotting? Ya mean going to check on the horny guys!"

"Hmpf." Alex was unimpressed.

"But he shut down the business with those guys: yet that doesn't stop us from going there with Sieg and having fun. The guy's a perfect masochist, see!"

"We knew that. Go tuna."

"The "Go Fish" parodies, eh?"

"I expect you to smile, my fellows! By Merton!" A new voice rang out of nowhere.

"What the…?"

"Superintendent Oda…? Someone patched him to have him hear this or what?" Atarasei wondered.

"Eisei." Alex guessed.

"Yessir. Did ya call for me~?" A familiar voice rang out.

"Eisei, man… Why do ya need to involve that Oda guy?"

"It's thrillin' and bustin', man."

"Not again with the Kansai dialect…"

"I'm Hattori Heiji's evil second cousin!"

"How devious of you." Atarasei drily replied.

"Yo! Oscar. Been a while~… Did ya bust Dullahan?"

"Of course."

"Did ya bust G-Cis?"

"Of course."

"Did ya bust Mortadelo?"

"No."

"Then ya are missing some thrill!"

"I'd rather miss it than get into some mess." He drily replied again.

"Well! Can't be helped. Go, lil Corvus."

"Grjxjt! Oreichalcos Boundary: Engage!"

The "Boundary" formed around them and Evil Corvus drew two slightly edited Super Vulcan Battle Chips.

"Corvus Vulcan!"

They began to spin and shoot out paws the edges of which were seemingly coated in steel to make them shaper and deadlier: Alex smirked and formed a gigantic Mettool's hard-hat to cover him: all projectiles bounced off it and scattered around the ground: Evil Corvus grumbled and drew two black-colored Long Swords next as he dashed for the hard-hat: it vanished before he reached it and found that Alex had loaded a Zeta Cannon Program Advance in the meanwhile.

"Zeta Cannon!"

"What! Gruah!"

"How's that?"

"Gruh! I lowered the guard! Eat these! Corvus Swords!"

"Shirahadori!"

Alex blocked the swords and a twitch formed over Evil Corvus' right eye to prove he was annoyed: he began to deliver kicks to Alex and he began to yield terrain only to suddenly form a Destroy Pulse Program Advance which he shot at Evil Corvus: he groaned and drew a Muramasa Blade while jumping towards Alex: the guy used the Mettol hard-hat again to hide and Evil Corvus' attack was wasted.

"Urateido! Cool it down or you'll get into trouble. You've lost close to 1000 HP with those two PAs and you're yet to inflict any real damage to the guy!" Eisei warned.

"I don't care!"

"Oh boy." He sighed.

"This guy's a rookie." Atarasei taunted.

"Che! Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Dream Sword!"

"Come."

"Wait, wait! It's a trap! Cancel!" Eisei gasped.

"Don't get in MY way, Eisei!"

"You moron! You're asking for a humiliating defeat!"

"So what!"

"Do you want our reputation of a few months ago to go down?"

"Reputation and whatever!"

"Chut! _Aibou_ is very strict on that!"

"The Prince is the Prince! I'm who I am!"

"You moron!"

"Shaddup, you son of a bitch!"

"Wha~t? Take that back, you!"

"Dream Sword!"

"Fuck. The imbecile! You only have 2000 HP and you've lost about half of them already! And now they'll take out the rest!"

"Hah! There's no attack which can do that."

"There is!"

The Dream Sword hit Alex but a cloud of smoke ensued and a statue of the Pokémon "Zekrom" was left on his stead: he appeared higher into the air and began to shoot _shuriken_ in a row at the guy but he suddenly vanished with a cloud of smoke and a statue of the Pokémon "Reshiram" formed there instead: he appeared higher in the air and began to shoot _shuriken_ across the air: both began to shoot each other until they collapsed: Evil Corvus groaned and chuckled.

"I got inspired by the Gen II PKMN, "Doble"! They can copy an opponent PKMN's "Technique" and use it! The name's "Sketch"! So I've lost about 1900 HP but I pay those back! And I have you lose about 1000 HP!"

"Crap!" Atarasei gasped.

"Grah…" Alex groaned.

"Whoa." Eisei whistled.

"So? Who's the one getting cocky now? And there's more! Synchro Hook 3: delivers 150 points of damage and synchronizes our HP! So you now have lost over 2050 HP out of 2150! I've got about 100 HP left and you also have about that number left!"

He suddenly hit Alex with a special "hook" installed over his right forearm taking profit that he was still trying to recover and he groaned as he dropped into his fours to recover: Atarasei grumbled something under his breath and Eisei chuckled.

"So! Atarasei. Kage's got it big?"

"None of your punk concern."

"Why. Patent it, my fellow."

"Patent it yourself."

"And now…! I'll go down with a bang!"

"What!"

"Hah! "Self-Destruct"!"

"No way!"

Evil Corvus' body glowed and he released a mass of energy which swept the terrain and made Alex crash with the invisible dome: he groaned and hit the floor as the "Boundary" vanished and Evil Corvus flew skywards while laughing.

"Shit. It's a draw, alright." He groaned.

"Intriguing, by Merton!"

"Video Man. Show your hide."

"Did you call for me~?"

Video Man landed next to Alex and helped him stand up: he was over a meter and sixty tall: his face was colored black and his eyes' irises were colored green.

He had a metallic structure set around and atop the head which included two dials on the sides of it and three connection ports colored yellow, white and red from left to right.

His main color was black but he had a "play" symbol colored green set on the middle of the chest with two round buttons on both sides of it: a shape reminiscent of the Alphabet letter "V" was set above the "play" symbol plus a round circle drawn around on the base of his neck.

His shoulders were shaped like spheroids but were different.

The left one was gray metallic while the right one was black with a red dome-shaped piece set atop them.

His arms' "skin" was black in color, too, but he had two parallel circular green stripes set slightly beneath the shoulder: his forearms were metallic and had some kind of tape set on them which interconnected with each other: his hands were colored black, too, and had no outstanding features on either of them.

The rest of his torso was colored black and it had another green-colored shape reminiscent of the Alphabet letter "V" set on it towards the spot where a person's stomach would be at.

His legs had four small "V" shape stripes set on a vertical row around the hips: four of them.

Another two circular stripes parallel to each other were placed around the knees and on the ankles: his feet were shaped like rectangles.

Overall, he looked like a moving VHS playback machine.

"Take it easy, Alex, my fellow."

"Bring me back to _Purgatory_…"

"OK!"

They both warped and materialized into the deck of _Purgatory_ where Atarasei helped Alex lean on him and they sat on a corner of the deck: Video Man blinked them the right eye and walked away while humming a tune.

"Take it easy."

"Huff. I don't wanna go through that twice."

"V – B – N!" Video Man announced through the speakers.

"Oho! They came!"

"… "So! This land doesn't generate profits, eh?"… "Ya see it! Just lots of dust, see! Even the rocks feel thirsty!" …"

"… Shah, shah, shah! "Well! I like to protect the noble hoe gentlemen, see... Heh, heh! I buy by 30000 Credits!" … "It's all yours right now! And you're making a good business, see! On the surface it's about 100000 square meters but on the underground there's a lot of terrain!"… "Yeah! Some city fellow! Hah, hah, hah! The guy bought the Super Dry Rock Field for 30000 credits!" … "Must wanna install a scorpion farm… Hah, hah, hah!" … "Maybe he brings cows which produce milk powder, even! Hah, hah, hah!" … "The Government approves bringing water to Super Dry Rock Field! The lands' value increases by 10000 times!"…"

"Oho. There go the influences. He buys the terrain for a handful Credits knowing that he can pull something so that they're re-valued and he gets a lotta more money compared to the initial investment!" Atarasei grinned and looked amused.

"Really… Super Dry Rock Field…"

"_Marchando_! "But! Macario! Don't be a brute! You're going to break one of the donkey's legs!" …"Shaddup! And you hit me with the leg, "Menistro"! Harder, harder!"… "Yes, I'm ruined… Not even Tontolhigo's grandpas buy these anymore…" … "Herculito Plush Boxers Factory"… "Well! I'm a romantic of old-times fashions… I'll buy it by 20000 Credits!" "…"Good, good! Gift horse!"… "Eh…? Oh! A~G!" … "BOXERS FURY! The Government has reached an agreement with Greenland to sell Plush Boxers to the Eskimos. Factories open one after the other while the assets rise in the stock market and…" …"

"Plush boxers, eh?" Atarasei grinned.

"Selling them to the Eskimos… In Greenland…" Alex rolled his eyes.

"… "Don't be mad, Pepe! Pepe! Wait till I shove the TV asides!" … "Devil! That rascal keeps on getting rich!" … "BIG FINANCES! Juanito Escaramuza buys some wagons to the gypsies and then the Marine Department creates the 5th Fleet using sail-moved aircraft carriers. The guy goes and gets rich selling the wagons' sunblind to create the sails." … "GRFTJX! The guy gets tipped off by someone in the higher echelons! This is gonna end! I'm going to cut that buddy-buddy deal with a single cut and…! Hey!"…"

"Someone was listening in?" Alex wondered.

"… "Where are you going, you? How frightening! If it cuts through the air and there's someone in the way then… A~H! I can't see it! I can't! What a catastrophe!" … "Yeah? They also made you too big of a suit, Mr. Super? Look at me! And I told the tailor that "this is a giraffe's frock-coat!" but the guy… And it'll end up being that I'm a fool for telling you my life! You alien guy!"…"

"What the heck?"

"Ahem, ahem. Mr. Super had picked an axe from the wall and swung it but the cutting part slipped out of the stick and flew across the air: he found Mortadelo who was seemingly missing the head but instead it turned out the neck area for the frock-suit was taller than his neck so it looked like he'd lost his head." Video Man clarified.

"That's some joke."

"… "Huff! Brrr! The vision of that idiot sans his head was truly scary and terrific… And… A~H!" … "Hi, Mr. Super! I'm going to bring this X-Ray project to the mechanic 'cause it's got some leak and… Mr. Super! What happened? When you get a stroke again then your aunt's the only one who'll get concerned! This guy…!"…"

"X-Ray…? So the X-Ray thing was making it look like Filemón's head was a skull?"

"Yeah! And Mr. Super crushed him beneath the safe and the wall! Let's keep on! "Pay attention, you pair of morons! We know that the guy, that Juanito Batalla, takes profit of high-level influences to obtain first-rate info and get rich…! He knew the Super Dry Rock Field thing, the boxers' stuff, and the sail-moved aircraft carriers…" …"Ah! True! He even bought to a poor fellow his assets of a cowbell factory spending just 17 Credits." … "And then it turns out that the Choina guys now like attaching a cowbell at the end of their traditional pigtail, there's a patch with our nation and… Millions of cowbells! The assets of "Cowbells Inc." soar sky-high!"… "By the way… Didn't you own "Cowbells Inc." assets? Could you be the poor fellow that…?" … "Well! If they fooled you it's your problem!"…"

"Poor fellow… Sure, sure."

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"… "You're as good at business as doing bobbin lace with billiards cues!"… "Stop running like you're silly lizards! You're going to keep an eye on the jerk! Intercept his phone, take photos of his visitors and record his talks: do whatever it takes but make sure that it becomes enough evidence to jail the guy! Get it?" …"Gotcha, man! He's headed straight for the cell like the monks!" … "That's the guy's mansion… We'll start by intercepting the phone line and recording with whom he chats!"…"

"That's logical."

"As logical as cha vampire wannabe?"

"Tozukana – san! Let's not start that again."

"No! We'll end it again, then."

"Jeez. Joanne – chan!"

"Did ya say something, Lily The Goth?"

"Huff."

Tozukana and Lily suddenly showed up there and she grinned at Atarasei while Lily and Alex rolled their eyes.

"… "Come on, get up to the post's top and insert the needle into the wire!"… "Like a monkey, Boss! It's done…A~G!" TCHACH! RANG! … "GRFTJX! Insert the needle into the wire… It was the hi-tension wire, not the phone's one!" … "And what do you have to say, heck? You should've asked the guy!" … "Ah! You're heading back home, eh, Boss?" … "Shut up, idiot. I've thought of a way to take photo without him realizing that. Heh, heh. I'll get CRUSHING evidence from here." … "Ok. Let's get to work, it stimulates, strengthens and turns me into a scourer." … VROM! … "OUA~H!"… "Why, Boss! That was really CRUSHING, yeah."…"

"Note! Filemón got into the sewer and used an opening to stick his arms and the camera out."

"And?" Tozukana asked.

"But didn't think that cars circulated glued to the sidewalk…"

"Hah!"

"Huff." The other three sighed.

"… "See! You know what? Hide behind the corner with the camera and I'll keep an eye out with my mail-box disguise. If someone comes in or out I'll tell you." … "Fine." … "Why! A mail-box! Let's drop to letter for Engracia there! Devil, it doesn't fit! That mania of making small letter slits… I'm going to widen it up! AUMPF!" … SCRRRETCHT… "Ready! Heh, heh! Now even the address book would fit there!" … "What happened to you? Did you try eating a watermelon cake without cutting it?" … "BJFTX! You do your job and don't meddle elsewhere!" … "I think it's better for me to check out from the corner to see the color the things have…" … CHAP! … "Why! It'd seem they're yellow, huh, Boss? Well, well! Just a comment, you know!" … "What a caprice! To have me paint this wall yellow…"…"

"So he ended up being painted by the painter without realizing it?"

"Correct! "I brought a camcorder… I'm going to film even the beard's parasites when he comes out!" … "Maybe they'll even give you the Oscar, even!" … "There! Silence! Camera! Action! Heh, heh. It's a big guy but he fits in the lenses… He now jumps over something! He must have frog ancestors… AH!"… "Lucky me! I saw this opened sewer entrance and I jumped over, else I'd get a blow." … PLOUF! "Boss. I think that if you don't clean the lenses a bit nothing's gonna be caught… Well! Come to this go record cow shit! What a mood! Look! Leave it to me! I'll place this micro-transmitter on his pocket and we'll figure what he chats about like a portress! Heh, heh. Coming, coming… Take micro-trans… HIH!" … "Hey! Fella! Fancy meetin' 'ere! Some business ahead of ya?" … "Yes. I brought "Federico", my good luck charm to… Huh? Where's it?" … "A charm?" … "Yes, an Algerian scorpion! Looks like it escaped the box and… What a fright if it'd bitten me!" … "IAIA~H!"… "Why! What a finger! What fright! You won't be able to rummage inside of the nose with it! I've got a better microphone! It can catch chat from kilometers away!"…"

"Heh, heh, heh. What disgrace!"

"Huff."

"… "Maybe you'll hear Akihito and Michiko-Soda discussing!"… "See? I only need to put on the headphones, properly aim and…" … "Huh! I'll have to stuff nitroglycerin in the engine! You almost don't hear the engine!" …. "Incredible, see… All's empty! We'll have to search a lot to stuff it up!" … "Well! Not like it was very stuffed before, ya know? This is a matter of precision! I picked a portable camcorder and I'm going to film more than Alfredo Landa!" … "MINISTRY: ARTIST EXIT"… "Hi~! Fella! What news do you have?" … "Aha! A close-up head shot! Next comes a knee shot! Another with backlighting in the Valencia twilight! A crowd shot like that Hitchcock guy! And the last one from behind, see! Done, Mr. Super! I picked the portable camcorder from storage and took a lot of takes, enough to stuff a cargo train!" … "Oh yeah? Very good, see… But you screwed it up again because this ain't a portable camcorder: it's a drill-firing machine!"…"

"Oh boy." The three of them rolled their eyes.

"Hah! The guy has not idea of tech and thins the first weird device he finds is a portable camcorder… He could've tried to wonder where the film was extracted or inserted through!" She laughed.

"… "Have me pain the façade again… Well, that's something. But with an artist's paintbrush… I think that the guy exaggerates!" … "Well. But it looks nice anyway." … "Come on! Put more energy into that paintbrush! I'm closing a contract to have you pain the Great Wall in green color!"…"

"V-B-N! This is it for today! Feedback and comments are welcome into the blog, as usual. Let's hope we can tune it so that it shows up on Google's first results! N-B-V! Off-air!"

"How crazy." The three of them sighed in defeat.

"Well! It's not as crazy as your vampire mania! Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!"

"Jeez."

13:54 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Eh… _Aibou_? You there?"

"… Come in. Gray."

A guy had been standing in a curved corridor and in front of a door built to enter a round room given the shape of the walls.

This guy was clearly over a meter and sixty centimeters tall, maybe closer to a meter and seventy.

His approximate age was around 15 or 16: his face had a smooth form to it yet his eyes' irises were blood red and gave off a sinister vibe followed by the slightly sharp nose yet today he looked worried or nervous.

His green hair was totally messy and grew until the base of the neck while having a purple-colored plastic piece forming an arch starting over the ears and extending backwards but which didn't contribute to keep the shape but rather seemed to be an accessory to appeal as "cool" and fashionable.

His clothing was something rather new and innovative too and seemed to be self-made.

To begin with: his shirt's color was a shade of bright gray and it had a partial vest integrated with it colored using two shades of purple, one brighter and one less bright.

The brighter bands of purple ran across the sleeves starting atop the shoulders and extended until the wrists while also drawing an external edge for the partial torso-only vest.

This vest started at the neck and shoulders but only reached until a third across the height of the upper body: seen from the front it had a form reminiscent of the Alphabet character "U" turned downwards by 180 degrees.

His vest also was innovative in the fact that it included two small yellow squares with what could plastic clips colored orange/red attached to their lower end from below.

His pants were plain and didn't stand out too much save for their purplish coloring and the gray knee protections.

He wore fingerless grayish gloves over his hands as well.

The sneakers, however, were designed to incorporated gray soils into them while the main body was white in color: their design was plain and had no Velcro straps or strings plus a thin yellow stripe running across it climbing upwards as seen from the front edge to then climb downwards.

He lastly carried a silver and purple-colored Link PET the emblem of which was a gray-colored spheroid of energy with thunderbolts emerging from it and aiming for all eight cardinal directions: its rim was painted in a black color as well.

"Sorry to bother ya, but… We found evidence that the Virus Lab thing belongs to Choina, yeah…"

"Hum. As I thought… So?"

"Eh… Well… Urateido managed to score a draw…"

"Hum. I see."

The room was rather austere and lightened by artificial candles: the main piece of furniture was a black marble throne set in a metallic platform about 30cm over the ground.

A man was sitting there: he was around a meter and eighty centimeters in height showed up and turned around to look at the camera: everyone was surprised because they clearly didn't know him from anywhere.

The helmet design was compact and thick included silver plating around the neck and its base, a main purple and black coloring, black shades and a green symbol which looked like a unicursal hexagram colored pale green and having some unknown runes written on its circular edge painted on the forehead.

He wore some curious armor over his body: it was colored with purple tones on the outer edges but black on the center: the same forehead emblem was set on the middle of his chest.

His shoulders were black ellipsoids with purple-colored outer edges and having some other green fluorescent runic symbols drawn over them: his arms "skin" was black in color and the armor over the forearms had an external golden rim from which three parallel golden lines extended until the fingertips.

The feet armor started at the knees and used a tint of purple for the outer edges but the main armor kept on using the black motif: silver-colored lines extended parallel to each other until the feet fingertips.

The unarmored body "skin" was also black in color and had intricate green fluorescent patterns running down its sides, front and rear.

"What do we do with it?"

"Hmf. Let them swim for a while. If they turn bothersome… Then you can blow it up. I don't need eyesores."

"R-roger… Prince Kuroban…"

"You can call me by your nickname. I don't care. I owe to you improving my Japanese and English, anyway. And you do jobs efficiently. Yet! Don't bring up "sex" talk in front of Umisama Garcia or Ernst Stroger… I forbid any kind of in-fighting. I didn't bring you here to do that."

"R-roger… I'll shut my trap… And tell Urateido to behave, yeah…"

"As long as Sieg desires those "games" then I don't mind them but you can't force anyone else to do those. Or else… There'll be consequences!"

"O-OK. E-Eisei Aaron 'ere will make sure of that… B-bye…"

Eisei gulped and slowly came out closing the door while Kuroban fumed and impatiently tapped the right armrest.

"Damn it. Had I bothered to…! Grah! Can't be helped… The cold war between Golden Star and Shunoros will continue… This is the "Kyutora Threat"… My new strategy… The threat of being immune to attacking! Now try come for us… You will fail! By the High One!"

He managed to form a smug smile and chuckled under his breath…


	5. Chapter 5: Chaos and Wind

**Chapter 5: Chaos and Wind**

16:17 PM (Japan Time), Thursday January the 8th…

"…beat the guy with my _judoka_ skills and…!"

"YOU DAMNED LIAR!"

"YIKES!"

"Huff."

"Yeah. It's getting annoying after so many years."

"Good afternoon. Hikari – san, Saito – san."

"Oh. Leon – kun. How was your afternoon?"

"Fine, thank you."

"What's the count, Saito – kun?"

"What, Meiru – chan? Ah! About 1933, according to Rock Man…"

"NO WAY!"

"Way."

The Akihara Middle School's 4-A class members were chatting on their way out of the school and into the street: Ooyama Dekao began with some tale, both Sakurai Meiru and Ayanokouji Yaito snapped at him, Hikari Netto rolled his eyes, Hikari Saito sighed and Hikawa Tooru looked defeated: Leon joined them before Meiru asked something of Saito: Dekao gasped in horror and Meiru directed a hostile glare.

"After that stupid "Emperor Ooyama" thing in the summer you need to be reminded this is reality and you had to sweat a lot to be able to make it to the 4th year." Meiru told him.

"But I…"

"You're trying to distort reality as if you had a reality distortion field."

"What the heck is that?"

"Dunno. Ask your stomach."

"HUH?"

"Oh boy." Leon rolled his eyes.

"Miquel warned you? This is the craziest middle school ever." Netto told Leon with a sigh.

"He did, Hikari – san, and he was right."

"Heh, heh, heh… Yo! _Ani-ue-sama_~… Been a while~…."

"… Siegfried."

"Sieg's already fine!"

They exited into the street and Leon stumbled upon a guy.

This guy could be about his same height and age: he also had white hair like him but was rather messier.

He sported a black overcoat, a brownish wool sweater, jeans, black socks and sneakers.

He also had a pair of sunglasses on.

"Missed me~?"

"Not really."

"Don't be so cold, _ani-ue-sama_~! I was about to give ya the Ouija Board to defeat Ooyama!"

"What the heck is that?" Dekao frowned.

"A cursed deck!"

"A~H! I'M CURSED!"

Dekao ran off like he was going to be slaughtered alive and the students weren't surprised in the least: Leon merely lifted the right eyebrow but looked dull and unimpressed.

"So. Siegfried. You appeared." A woman's voice rang out.

"Well, well, well. Let devil bite me. Ms. Secretary. Did you need to scold Ms. Sniper a hundred times?"

"Who knows?"

A woman suddenly walked in and loomed over Sieg who turned to his right to glance at her with a grin.

She appealed to be on her 30s.

Her face's shape looked nice but if one tried to look at it as a profile then it lost most of its charm.

She wore a black hat set to that it hid her gaze and she wore a black blouse plus a pair of jeans and rain boots: her hands were covered by gloves as well.

Something about her transmitted a feeling of authority and command.

"Ah. I see. She tried to break the Ice Queen's skull with the rifle's butt!"

"In essence." She replied in a way like it'd been no big deal.

"So? Are ya gonna tell Video Man to record Ibañez while he draws?"

"I have no interest on their radio adaptations. They boost morale. That is why they are allowed."

"Heh, heh, heh. Well, well, well. Eisei wanted me to tell you guys something, ya see."

"Oh yeah?" Saito merely lifted an eyebrow.

"We're gonna get serious!"

"About time." Meiru muttered.

"Hah! They need my sky-mowers." Yaito grinned.

"S-sky mowers?" Sieg uttered.

"Oh boy." Hikawa rolled his eyes.

"Trouble." Leon calmly muttered.

"Yeah! They'll redo that punk hairstyle cha have!"

"Hmpf! Let them come! I'll send them to the Mighty Ducks!"

"So?" Ms. Secretary challenged.

"Oh yeah. The Prince says one day he'll go settle the score with Slur – sama~…"

"Let him come. She shall be waiting."

"And that's all so I'm off through Off Road!"

He giggled and walked away: Leon shrugged.

"Let us go, ma'am."

"Roger. Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon."

Leon and she headed towards a red Subaru car which had been parked close by: the other five students walked together.

"But, really… That guy should've shown up on the Guinness Book of Records as the most beastly liar ever." Meiru fumed.

"Let's not get annoyed, Meiru – chan!" Roll told her as she projected from her PET.

"Yaito – sama: the strawberry milks have arrived." Glyde reported.

"Yay! Tooru – kun: I'm going to play! Desu!" Ice Man exclaimed.

"OK."

"Rock Man's in the Science Labs, as always… He's helping out Papa with some new researches…" Netto shrugged.

"By the way: it'll soon have been 2 years, right?"

"Ah. The _Scherezade Symphony_… Yeah. That was a crazy cruise trip."

"No wonder. From what you told me… I'd sprained my ankle two days before so I decided it was better to let it rest."

"And who'd said Andy would get annoyed at Miquel over that nickname thing, anyway?"

"Guess he thought it was an affront to his honor."

"Guess that…"

"His Jupiter honor?" Meiru joked.

"What the heck is that?" Netto didn't seem to get the point.

"Ask cha bandana."

"How funny." Saito drily muttered.

"I didn't get it either." Yaito admitted.

"My bad. I feel random today."

"No wonder."

"Ah! By the way, Netto… Did the bird meet the nest?"

"Huh? What? Ah. Well. Dunno."

"Tee, heh, heh. I take it as a "yeah"…"

"What was that about, Meiru – chan?" Yaito frowned.

"My bad. _Girl's secret_." She giggled.

"Guess that." She shrugged.

"Those jokes are running old, Meiru – chan." Saito told her.

"They're running _new_, Saito – chan."

"Please…" He groaned out of annoyance.

"Gotcha. That's cha weak point: the nicknames!"

"Huff. I'm glad Andy doesn't have to bear this every single day."

"Yeah. Let's get home already. This has been a crazy afternoon."

"The Crazy Afternoon Club founded by Sakurai – sama~! Tee, heh, heh!"

18:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Someone attacked this node and the level of damage to the surroundings… It wasn't a mere bloke. Besides, this is the deepest of them all and no mere bloke would come so deep, to Level 30…"

"Hah! Punishing Gale!"

"Huh! You're… A member of "Shunoros"!"

"Correct! Zero EXE! Supercomputer Admin!"

A Net Navi had been examining a small white cylinder with eight grooves cut along its height (about a meter and a half) and the surroundings somewhere in the Reverse Internet when a spiraling gale colored purple pushed him back so he got to his feet.

His main body color was crimson red and his height was about the meter and eighty.

His head had a large sapphire-colored dome encompassing it as seen from above: some kind of partial facial protection was built on the front: it was a pair of equally reddish "wings" extending NW and NE followed by two thin parallel fang-like ends running down the sides of the face: where the ear-pads would be at, a gray-colored "∅" symbol over a black background was drawn.

His eyes didn't have pupils to them and their irises were a threatening yellowish color.

His face's "skin" was metallic in color and he did have a small nose yet his mouth was but a line drawn across it forming a trapeze in the center of the face: it didn't look like it could open and the "breathing" sound was emitted from inside of it.

His upper body had partial chest armor colored red over his blackened "skin" and looked more like a vest than armor: there was an inverted trapeze-shaped opening exposing the base of the neck and the center of the upper chest followed by two round openings in the middle of the chest.

The armor ended by drawing a trapeze on its lower edge exposing the "skin" of the waistline: it did form a curve to protect the sides and read parts of the neck too with three small horizontal slits set in a column on the front parts of the neck protection.

The armor over his shoulders appealed as being knives while seen from the front: they had a thin metallic outer edge and the main color on them was red: they were thick and looked strong.

His arms' skin was black in color too while his hands were covered in the usual white "latex" most Navis had: two armlets were attached over the section of his arms extending from the elbows to the top of his hands: each one had a mainly cylindrical form with red and black armor: the black armor was built of a stripped cylinder with the red armor over it.

Two circular bands kept it on place looping around the elbow and the wrist: the upper part had a diamond-shaped piece over the elbow plus a small sapphire over his hands.

There was a gap around the stomach area which was unshielded in the form of a cross: a pair of white "pants" began on the lower part of that gap and extended until the knees: these "pants" didn't cover the outwards-facing sides of his legs.

His knees had diamond-shaped pieces of armor with a thin vertical stripe across their center protecting them built before the spot where his boots began at.

The boots were rather plain except for a set of three black bands slightly over the ankles of each foot: the thin soils of the boots were also colored black.

Last of all he had a mass of blonde hair spreading from behind his helmet and stopping inches from his ground: this hair spread open as a cape and ended in six pyramidal gaps between each end.

Overall, the Navi looked tall, threatening, and unique.

"Yeah! The name's Fighting Cyclone! And today I'm going to beat ya to a pulp! No rock 'n roll tricks will save ya punk hide!"

"How devious of you."

An opponent dropped from higher above and landed while lifting some settled dust on the ground.

His main body color was green and his helmet was also partial since the rear was unshielded and his purple-tinted hair emerged from behind using the opening it formed.

The helmet was then split into two parts: the uppermost part had a dome protruding off the helmet's center and protected by further armor which, as seen from the front, amounted to a trapeze with two extensions reminiscent of antennae aiming backwards: two narrow yellowish pyramids formed from the rear section of the dome and aimed backwards: the center of the trapeze had the "_kaze_" or "wind" _Kanji_ colored purple set there.

The second part of the helmet could be described as an inverted trapeze covering the center of the forehead and with two slightly curved lines aiming backwards and which ended with another pair of inverted trapezes coupled with a bit of black armor: the ear-pads were also purple in color but had no drawing there yet they had a black edge as seen from the outside while the edge running down the cheeks was white.

A pair of greenish transparent shades protected his eyes the irises of which were brown.

The chest armor began with a round blue metallic collar around the base of the neck and, from there, an inverted triangle-shaped piece of greenish armor extended with the purple initials "FC" scrawled on its centermost spot.

The shoulders had an initial upper-half-of-a-cylinder armor coupled with further armor with curved greenish armor built in segments: two white paws were set on the foremost and rearmost sections.

His forearms, like most Navis, had armor starting at the elbow and protecting them: it was built using a green circle plus a green cylinder reaching until the wrist.

Three fins were arranged in a row over the whole of the armor paired with a pair of white metallic blades reminiscent of a dragon's ones starting at the wrist and extending past the hands' length: the exposed arm was covered in black "skin" too.

The body below the torso and until the knees was only shielded by black "skin" and a row of dull gray metallic squares ran down the length of both sides.

The legs' armor began at the knees with a blade aiming upwards and a navy blue round edge with a diagonal depression: the rest of the boots were rather plain green models with two bands splitting the boots in three segments colored deep green.

Lastly, a metallic green piece with orange edge reminiscent of a dragon's tail emerged from the rear of the torso's armor.

His overall height was over a meter and seventy tall.

"Let's go! Oreichalcos Boundary!"

"Fine. I needed a serious fight. I spend too much time inside of the supercomputer, anyway. A change of airs will do me fine."

"And now… Evil Tornado!"

"What?"

Fighting Cyclone crossed his arms to form the shape of the "X" letter and his forearms changed to black coloring as a blackish "aura" built up around his body before a blackish tornado formed on Zero's spot and propelled him towards the top of the dome: he bounced off it and suddenly used an Area Steal to show up behind the guy and slash his back horizontally: yet he was repelled by the "aura" and the guy suddenly drew a weapon on his right forearm.

"Air Spread X! 75 points! 3 hits! 225 points of damage! Eat this!"

"Gruah! Huff. It's obvious I need to drop all standard conventions."

"Yeah! I've improved and Dark Man's battle data won't help you here!"

"Fine. Guess the God of War does bless you."

"Kyutora? But of course! The Prince said that."

"Guess I'm the Prophet of Doom."

"Isn't that a parody of the Covenant Prophets?"

"Bite me, Mr. Anderson. Welcome to the Matrix."

"How funny."

"Hrah!"

"Hmpf! _Naïve_!"

Zero suddenly dashed for the guy and tried to hit him with his sword but he formed a blue shield with a yellow cross drawn on it and repelled Zero's incoming attack: he formed something like the Super Vulcan Battle Chip on his right forearm next.

"Mad Vulcan X! 15 points! 15 hits! 225 points too! Eat these!"

The Mad Vulcan spun and bombarded Zero 15 times in a row with giving him no room to maneuver.

"Gruh! 550 points of damage already…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. And your max HP is 2250! Mine is 2450!"

"Guess we all like _Duel Monsters_! We all set our HPs to end in neat zeroes or 50." Zero sarcastically grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh! True, true."

"So! Do you think the NASA will believe you're a Choina top-secret project as in _2010: Odyssey Two_?"

"Oh? Who knows? Maybe they'll do. Or maybe they'll think the Patriots were behind that."

"Did you see the trailer of last month? _Metal Gear Solid: Rising_ has become _Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance_. There's now collaboration between Kojima Productions and Platinum Games."

"I saw it! And it looks intriguing. Guess they'll reveal more as this year progresses but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes until the next one to be completed now that they have to rethink several things."

"Anyway… Fight!"

"Heh! Fine. Edogiri Blade X: 300 points!"

"Program Advance! Iron Shell, Triple Slot In! Parallel Shell!"

"What!"

Zero formed a round reddish carapace of some Virus species and shot it at Fighting Cyclone, shattering his sword and hitting him fully: he recoiled and groaned as the thing bounced off behind him, hit his back and then vanished.

"700 points! That damned thing hit me twice and delivered 700 points of damage! Fuck. I lowered the guard. Luckily, I'm not Sword-Attribute. But I could tell that to the others and they'll grant a nightmare to Ijuuin and Blues… Heh, heh, heh! And Yamato Man too!"

"Heck." Zero fumed.

"Drill Arm X! 120 points! Eat this!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"Fuck!"

Fighting Cyclone tried to hit the Dream Aura but the Drill Arm didn't have enough strength to shatter it so he was repelled.

"Super North-Wind!"

"Fuck." Zero cursed.

"There! And now… Panel Format! The Prince predicted this strategy and told us to carry these two trump cards! I got lucky and got them in the same turn. I guess your confidence must be dropping by now!" He snickered.

"Whatever. Wave Arm, Triple Slot In! Power Wave!"

Zero hit the ground with his punches and two shockwaves formed at his left and right before those converged into a single one: Fighting Cyclone jumped to dodge and landed but then the shockwave bounced off the edge and hit him from behind making him lose his balance and groan: he managed to stand up.

"Fuck! Each took out 600 points! I've lost 1200 points… So I've now lost about 1900 points out of my 2450!"

"Getting confident?" Zero taunted.

"Hammer Weapon X! 285 points!"

"What!"

Fighting Cyclone formed a gigantic hammer and had it hit the floor causing a powerful shockwave which had Zero hit the edge of the dome: he groaned and stood up.

"Demon Cyclone! 50% of my accumulated damage will hit you! 950 points will be deduced! Let's go~!"

"Ojiou…!"

"Slow!"

A red cyclone travelled at a mad speed across the arena and sucked Zero in while shooting out several beams of reddish energy: Fighting Cyclone formed a scythe-like weapon.

"Death Scythe X! 90 points, 3 hits! 270 points!"

The scythe began to spin and hit Zero 3 times in a row.

"Grururah!"

"And this sums up to 2055 points! Less than 200 HP to go!"

"Shit. That happens because I'm not a seasoned fighter."

"Starting to realize your doom, Mr. Anderson?"

"Shaddup."

"Hit a vibe~?"

"Muramasa Blade!"

"Shit!"

The attack hit Fighting Cyclone because he hadn't bothered to get away from Zero and he growled: he landed on the floor and his "crest" began to tilt with the reddish warning color.

"Damn it. Only 50 HP left: it goes any lower this thing will be cancelled!"

"Hmpf! Who's the one getting cocky now?"

"Heat Upper X! 375 points!"

"Aura Head, Triple Slot In! Program Advance! Stream Head!"

Fighting Cyclone warped and managed to deliver an uppercut with his flaming fist but then a "head" Virus managed to form and shoot out its head in a straight line hitting Fighting Cyclone too: both stepped apart and collapsed on their knees while the "Boundary" converged back on Fighting Cyclone's position.

"A draw, huh…! Hah… These season's battles are exciting! Let there be chaos! Brought forth by YOU."

"Grhzk! I know I used the nickname "Chaos" before but that's unrelated, Fighting Cyclone!"

"I'm off and try to survive Video Man and company's madness!"

"Zero. Are you okay?"

"Victor…"

Fighting Cyclone warped out of the zone and a Navi landed next to Zero to help him stand up.

Victor could be over a meter and eighty tall and his face seemed to reflect he was already on his 20s.

His helmet's surface was covered in a grid of brown tiles

These tiles were separated by black lines and columns: a bright yellowish jewel had been set on the center of the forehead: the ear-pads had his initial, the Alphabet "V" letter colored golden, drawn over them.

Blue transparent shades were installed over his eyes the irises of which were brown: his face had a smooth look to it and could even be considered attractive as seen from the sides.

His main body had that same pattern printed over it and his chest emblem's edge was colored red, green and blue in different percentages while the golden "V" was set against a white background.

His shoulders had eight-pointed stars drawn over them colored red, green and blue at random while his arms also had the grid pattern printed over their skin: the forearms were colored navy blue with dusty brown bands circling around their length.

The legs kept on using the grid pattern over it and the boots happened to have the Alphabet initials "RGB" with each letter printed on their corresponding color, set over them.

Overall he looked like a combination of the three basic colors and a brown grid: his expression denoted worry.

"Let's get you to the deck."

"Fine…"

Both warped and materialized in _Purgatory_'s deck where a guy was waiting there.

"Zero! Are you alright?"

"Huff. Yeah, Joel Agoras…"

Joel Agoras, Victor's Operator, was a young man who appealed to be close to 20 years of age and having a height of about meter and eighty centimeters.

His hair's color was a bright brown one and it was rather messy and forming flocks there and there while a pair of reading glasses hid his eyes.

His choice of clothing happened to be a white shirt with a collar having four buttons on it plus a teal brown coat over it which was open in the middle: he finished the set with a pair of grayish wool pants and simplistic brown shoes.

"I'm going back to… uck!"

"Take a while to rest. The supercomputer can function alone for 5 minutes, anyway."

"Y-yeah… Freeze Man can handle some of the job, anyway."

"V-B-N! Back with a backing back!"

"Heh… I'll listen in for a while."

"… "Yeah… The guys of "Concrete Face Inc." finished the bridge subsidized by the Government… Come check it out, come!" … "Devil! It's not safe at all! People could fall and…" … "Nope, this is the vehicle-only one." … "They made this other for pedestrians… They say that there's no danger of being run over and people can cross safely!"…"

"Knowing the impossible ends this comic goes to… Those bridges must be totally crappy stuff." Zero made a weak chuckle.

"Yessir! Number one: a vulgar wooden platform supported by a wooden structure which was lazily built… No handrails and only one car fits in each direction! Number two: three wooden planks lazily nailed together to form a bridge and which look like they could collapse any moment!"

"Please… And what happened to the Government money? They stored it on the Cayman Islands?" Victor rolled his eyes.

"… "So the "Concrete Face Inc." guys got the grant to carry out the road construction here, eh?" … "Yeah… The whole thing reeked! Reeked! Those Ministry guys must've overcome lotta obstacles to get that grant… But they didn't precisely use their brains here to overcome the obstacles!"…!"

"What kind of roads was it?"

"Well! There's a gap but this time there's no bridge so…"

"Shah, shah, shah! The road goes down the cliff face, runs across the bottom and then climbs up the opposite cliff's face!"

"Please…" Agoras sighed.

"… "The pool? Yeah, the "Concrete Face Inc." guys did build it up! They did build it up! But you can't imagine how hard it is to cross it from south to north!" … "Why? The wind pushes you back?"… "No! They got money from the Ministry, dunno how, to buy the terrains to build it… Then they bought a totally cheap terrain to build it… Where you could only fit a very narrow Pétanque track! But they did build the pool! They did! And as I told you: you can't imagine how hard it is to cross it from south to north!"…"

"Huh… Very narrow terrain, the pool wouldn't have fit, so… No way! They placed it _vertically_?" Victor looked dumbfounded by now.

"… "Devil! Now the "Concrete Face Inc." guys get a Government subsidy to start the "Metro" construction… In the Columbretes Islands! Note: these are small uninhabited, volcanic origin islands off the coast of Valencia. Well, let's continue! "Of course! The manager's the brother-in-law of the cousin of the Minister's aunt…! But I'm gonna end this influences deal! Mortadelo! Where are you at?" … "Peeling the kettle in Ms. Irma's office, see!" … "Peeling the kettle with Ms. Irma~? In office time~? Do you know whose skull I'm gonna stomp?" … "Well! It's not that big of a deal! I'm peeling the "Kettle", Ms. Irma's dog. And she doesn't look like she likes having her skull stomped over!" …"Grrftjx!" … GRRRAOR! GRRRÑIACK! AURGN! AW! AH! OUA~H! … "In effect, she didn't like that…!" "… Undecipherable obscenities…"… "Well, Mr. Super! You're the one perching on others' skulls! Am I to blame if they decide to bite you?" … "And Filemón? Where's Filemón at?" … "You see, he's taming fleas." … "Grftjx! Miserable cretin! Ne'er-do-well! The guy spends like that the hours paid by the organization? And the fleas? Where'd you get those obscene bugs from?" … "Well. From within the body fur "Kettle" has…" … "GRRRMBLFJ…!" … "Those reflexes, Mr. Super! Get your rear out of there before "Kettle" closes the jaw!" … GRRR! GRÑACK! GRÑIACK! OW! OW! OUWA~H! … "Hey! Someone bring a cushion for Mr. Super to sit in for the next half a year! Son! I worry about your health…!"…"

"Whoa. That's some hostile dog." Zero whistled.

"… "Come to these you can sit atop a gigantic Arizona desert cactus and ride a hedgehog sans chair!" … "Alright! Enough idiocies! Let's get to work, you imbeciles! You've heard of "Concrete Face Inc.", right? They get all public works, subsidies and sweet peppers from the Government! So you'll go to the public work in Farcy Street, get in as workers and check what goes on. I want a report on all fiddling over there, daub commissions, fake ones, slipped in envelopes…!" … "Well. In short: something like the handling you and the Staff Chief do whenever the funds from the central office come, eh? Yeah, Boss… I think it's something similar! Let's go there already!" …"

"Guess Mr. Super didn't like that one." Agoras smiled.

"Correct!" Burner Man laughed.

"Allow me." A familiar voice requested.

"Ah! _Danna_ Freeze Man: ya wanna join? Here's the script, _Danna_."

"I'll handle the public work staff. Ahem, ahem. "Of course: we admit staff! Are you handy with machines?" … "Yeah! Totally! They name me the "lil machine" given how I sharpen pencils and the Boss here plots ideas to avoid working…" … "Well! Foreman! Give this guy the excavator and the paving roller to the other!" … "Over here, my lords…" … "The excavator, he said! I look forward to it! Those great machines which can change the surface…!" … "And the paving roller rocks too! Heh, heh! Thousands of horse-power which press, squash and crush…!" … "The "excavator"…!" … "You haven't seen the "paving roller"…!"…"

"They weren't vehicles?" Victor wondered.

"Nope! A shovel and a portable crusher!"

"No wonder it reeked: that's a bad start."

"Hey! You two! Give a hand to Cepórrez, who has to end that wall!" … "Ah! How cool! We're gonna climb scaffold like monkeys! Let's go, Boss!" … "Well, sons! You're pretty delicate! And this is only the 2F height!"…"

"I smell the reason…" Agoras grinned.

"Huff." Victor rolled his eyes.

"… "I dunno what you'll do when we reach the 9F height!"…"

"I see! They had to support the worker and give him each brick: a human tower…" Agoras chuckled.

"… "Let's see! Which of the two is good at driving vehicles?" … "Me, me! I drove the Siberian express from Tijuana to Vladivostok!" … "Well then. Pick the cart and bring more bricks from the storage!" … "Well. Anything's better than bearing with two guys atop you… A~g! W… Wheel! The cart doesn't have a wheel!" … "Well! If it had one I'd brought it myself!"…"

"Really… Did they really want to buy totally cheap stuff?" Zero chuckled.

"… "I… I can't bear it anymore! I'm dying! Dying!" … "What are you doing, you fool? Don't lean on that wall, which has been assembled according to the latest austerity plan!" … "Austerity plan…?" … "Of course! Bricks are held together by cello-tape and not by concrete!" … "Ah…!" … BRRRRRLOM! … "A~H!"… "Calm down, man! We've got a mission to fulfill, ya know!" … "I know, Boss, I know! Giving this guy a spot on the cemetery!" … "Hey! Rookies! We need to build some columns… We need armored concrete!" … "Armored concrete…? Where do I find that?" … "Dunno! Check the warehouse!" … "Of course… It surely is… A~G!"… "Mortadelo! What happened? You didn't find the armored concrete thing?" … "Y-yess, Boss, but forget it… Let them make those columns with grinded peanuts!" … "Well, what now! What's with armored concrete?"…"

"What's the joke?" Victor asked.

"Another of Master Ibañez's Spanish jokes! Armored concrete is "hormigón armado" and it can be literally interpreted as "armed gigantic male ant"… Which is what M found there!"

"Really…" Zero sounded amused.

"… "T-there isn't, see… I believe they've sold it to the corner's restaurant to produce the gazpacho…" … "Brrr! Then we need to prepare more!"…"

"Shah, shah, shah! Keep on, _Danna_!"

"Delighted. "… Load the concrete mixer and prepare some tons!" … "Yeah… Is it an electrical model?" … "No." … "Ah! Then it's gotta be gasoil, right?" … "No."… "Well! It must have some way to work, right?" … "You and your stupid questions…!"…"

"It was auctioned by man-power!" Video Man chuckled.

"… "I'm fed up with working like that! Let's see if we discover something and get outta here!" … "Look! There's a fishy guy talking with the foreman and signaling something I can't see!" … "Wait, Boss! I'm going to climb up here to have a look! BO-BOSS!" BRRRLOMM! Note! M spotted a rope and tried to climb it with his Tarzan disguise but didn't spot it was to open the gravel depot trapdoor!"

"And the gravel buried F, huh." Victor sighed.

"… "Come on! Don't be so mad! They were but pebbles! They could've been bigger!"… "Devil! They're heading here!" … "W-who are…? The skyward cherubim guys…? They're going to pick me? Gl, gl, gl!" … "I'll hide in this hole to spy them! You camouflage!"… "Well! I'll put on my cat disguise…" … "Devil! What are all these tubes?" … "Huh? A cat!" … "Get it away, quick!"… "The barrels I placed in the hole to open up the basement parking hole must be about to explode!" … BOOM! … "And what if you've broken your bones? Point is: you didn't figure out anything! If you keep it like this I'm going to kick you out!" … "Psst! I heard the Super's talk. If they kick you out I've got a buddy which can give you peon work in a public work and…!" … "… Public Work! Public Work!" … "Dungy and unthankful people! A friend offers them a job and instead of thanking him they go, they have him swallow six bag of instant concrete, they place a soup bowl on his hand and try to sell him as the Disk-launcher by Miró. The police are on the track of the savages which…" … "I think you overdid, Boss! Knowing how expensive instant concrete is…" … "You shut up and walk! Gallop!"…"

"V-B-N! This is the end of today's episode! As crazy and maddening as always but not as crazy as Google's search algorithm! Heh, heh, heh!"

"How maddening." Victor sighed.

"Wasn't it?" Atarasei joked as he walked over to them.

"Huff. I feel better now… I gotta go… See ya."

Zero stood up and dematerialized while Atarasei grinned at Victor who looked indifferent: Alex walked and was rolling his eyes.

"So. Mr. Atarasei. Did you find Mr. Dixie and his punch?"

"Good question, Mr. Holmes. I guess not."

"Huff." Both Navis sighed.

"Oh my. Our bad boys are up to something."

"Ms. Ikada. Welcome to the party."

"_Thank you, bad boys_."

"Jeez. Bertha – chan. Behave or Ms. Secretary's gonna get annoyed."

"Don't worry. I'm in charge of the situation."

Ikada joined them as she stuffed her hands in the jeans' pockets and looking smug: Sandra seemed to foresee trouble.

"Today's the Navi Trouble Foreseeing Day." Ikada joked.

"Totally!" Atarasei laughed.

"Hum! Intriguing, by fellow."

"You made that up on the spot." Victor was annoyed by now.

"This is a crazy city. Totally." Sandra slapped her face in defeat.

"No wonder…" Alex rolled his eyes.

"So! Are you going to light the Mercury Lighthouse, Alex?"

"Jeez! Stop with the _Golden Sun_ jokes already, Oscar – kun!" He complained.

"Too bad! I'm inspired, Alexander the Great!"

The Navis sighed while the Operators chuckled or giggled…


	6. Chapter 6: Seas and needles

**Chapter 6: Seas and needles**

19:29 PM (Japan Time), Saturday January the 10th…

"… Simulation: over."

"… Another… success."

"Yeah. 5th in a row. And these simulations aren't easy either."

"Hmpf… Guess that…"

"Yo. Felix Leiter. Did ya guess where Bond hid the diamonds?"

"Qong. Felix Qong."

"The guy who'll beat The End at sniping! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Jeez. So? What level are the simulations set at, Tom?"

"Hard."

"Good. Joanne – chan: use your brains."

"Don't worry… I'll put 'em to sleep and they'll dream of genies!"

"At least it's not something indecent."

A guy had been standing inside of a room in _Purgatory_ and talking with his Navi pal until Tozukana and Lily came in.

The guy, Felix Qong, had short brown hair which had been cut into a military haircut but was largely hidden by a grayish cap with no logos on it whatsoever: his eyes were hidden behind a pair of sunglasses too.

He wore a sleeveless camouflage-colored vest over a black long-sleeved shirt plus a pair of jeans.

He sported a pair of black military boots too.

His gray and brown PET had the golden-colored Alphabet "T" character drawn as emblem surrounded by a black edge.

He currently was holding a PSG-1 sniper rifle aimed for the ground and didn't seem to mind Tozukana.

"So! Tom! Are ya gonna beat Tom Cruise to impossible missions?"

"How funny, Tozukana."

"Hah, hah, hah!"

"Jeez."

Tom, the Navi, could easily be around a meter and eighty tall and he had the looks of an assassin to him given his cold scarlet red irises and the total lack of emotion on his face.

Other traits included self-inflicted cuts over his upper chest which looked like a count of victims: a total of 17 cuts had been engraved in there insofar.

His main bodysuit color was gray combined with red armlets around the ankles and wrists: his hands had an extra layer of "skin" colored brown and he also sported a utility belt around the waist set with some grenades and knives on them plus a Makarov pistol.

Lastly, he had a pair of binoculars protected by their fund hanging from his neck using a brown leather band.

"Alright! Computer! Shake 'em all!"

"Unable to process command."

"Wha~t?"

"Jeez. Level: Hard. Settings: random." Lily instructed.

"Roger."

"That computer's dumb!"

"No. It's just designed to do what it has to do and not having to decipher jokes." Lily fumed.

"Let's go." Qong drily cocked the rifle.

"Hmpf… Yeah… Some action…"

"Starting simulation."

The room, which had the form of a prism, and contained several mobile projecting cameras, got replaced by a simulation of a cloudy and windy day: both snipers and their Navi companions were standing atop a rooftop overlooking a military parade.

"Target: General D." The computer announced.

"Heh! It's hard to spot them within the crowd and then hit them without getting counterattacking fire…" Tozukana grinned.

"Hmpf." Qong was unimpressed.

"And the wind doesn't help it either." Tom muttered.

"It could rain, too." Lily warned.

"OK! Do some scouting." Tozukana cocked the rifle.

"Tom…"

"OK."

"Roger."

Both Navis drew their binoculars (Lily had picked them a while before) and began to scan the parade's vehicles until they spotted a Jeep in which four men were seating.

"There. General D, behind the passenger…" Lily pointed.

"About 580 meters… And they all have helmets on so we need to properly aim for the neck and making sure the Colonel at the guy's left doesn't get in the way." Tom muttered.

"OK! Let them advance a bit further: 580 meters is pushing a bit too much for the rifles. Wait until they get to 500 meters or closer."

"I agree. The lesser the distance… The higher chances of contact…"

"Hmmm… Ah! A chopper is coming, but… Ah. It's the TV chopper: yet the wind it generates could veer the bullets off-course."

"No wonder: it's a "hard" mission, after all."

"Hmmm… We'll need to wait and hope they go film the start of the parade further down…"

"Heh! My blood's boiling!"

"Don't… get cocky."

"Che. Don't get Terminator complex, Mr. Smith!"

Qong didn't reply and Tozukana just fumed as she aimed the rifle: she crouched to have a better angle and position and calmly centered in the General D guy: the chopper had begun to move further down and she grinned as she removed the safety.

"Wait." Qong commanded.

"Che. I knew that, Mr. Terminator!"

"Stop with the nicknames, Tozukana." Tom grumbled.

"They're silly, anyway." Lily added.

"Huff. We'll settle that LATER and RETAL! Hah!" She improvised a lame pun on the spot.

"How stupid." Both Navis muttered.

"So! Tom! Ya were gonna ask Lily for a hot night?"

"No." He drily replied.

"NO!" Lily was annoyed.

"… Tozukana. Don't… start another… civil war." Qong slowly scolded without changing his dry tune.

"Huff! Alright, Mr. X!"

"Qong. Felix Qong." He insisted.

"Huff! OK, Felix… Have it cha way."

"The wind's slowing down: now!" Tom warned.

"Chance!"

Both shot and hit the General D guy before quickly rushing down the fire stairs and getting to a pair of parked motorbikes: the four of them rode on them and sped away: a beep rang out.

"Simulation completed."

The whole environment vanished and Tozukana placed the safety on the rifle while grinning.

"Well! Not bad. I wanted a change of airs."

"V-B-N!"

"Oho. It's begun!"

"Hmpf. I'm off."

"Yeah. I'm not a fan of those."

Qong and Tom left while Tozukana sat in a stool and grinned as she rattled the rifle's frame with the knuckles.

"… ROARRRR! "Goodness! Yes, Captain, sir! The new jets… The engine doesn't properly work, sir!" … "Well, son. What's the matter? It doesn't fly?" … "Oh! It does fly, sir! It does!" … "Then…?" … "It flies away on its own, you see, sir!" …"

"Hah! So the engine of the plane goes off on its own!"

"Really…"

"… "Alright, helmsman… Let's check the route: twelve dot one latitude North and sixteen dot four… Ah! Ten thousand cephalopods! What in the…? What…?" … "I told you, Commodore Regúlez! The auto-pilot of this warship is a hoax!"…"

"What happened? They ended up in the North Pole?"

"No! They somehow ended up stuck atop a mountain peak!"

"Oh come on."

"… "Colonel! Surface-to-air missile: in the launch area. Ready to fire!"…"

"… Shah, shah, shah! OK! "Good! Remote control: all's ready! 4, 3, 2, 1… Fire!"… BANG! ZOUFFF! "Holy~!"… "Devil! A thousand devils!"…"

"What happened now?"

"Well! The missile was transported by a vehicle with its own launch ramp and it did ignite but it dragged the vehicle along instead of being shot by the launch ramp!"

"Huff."

"… _Marchando_! "It's like I say, Mr. Superintendent! Someone uses influences in the higher echelons to sneak cheap stuff into the Land, Sea and Air Forces! Even the commanding officers' guns are a hoax!" … "They don't shoot?"… "They do shoot, yes! See, see! They shoot when they feel like it! Alright! We agree on it, right? I want your agents to start an investigation!" … "Where are those wild quadrupeds at…? Mortadelo~!" … "I'm here, Mr. Super! I'm testing the _Navajo_ disguise!" … "Grftjx! I'm fed up that you spend the time with your stupid disguises! I'm going to cut this out!" … TCHAC! OUA~H! … "But, Mr. Super…! I did tell you I was testing my _Navajo_ disguise… Albacete _Navajo_, of course! How could you run into it?" … "OW! UA~H!"…"

"So it wasn't an Indian but, rather, a gigantic knife? Hah! Good pun!"

"… "Well, man! Don't get nervous! Next time I'll use the Lagareterana disguise~!" … Note! It's a typical Spanish folkloric dress! "Grmbljf! And Filemón? Where's Filemón at?" … "There he comes, Mr. Super! And he carries a huge trunk!" … "What? A trunk?" … "Yeah! Clarete… Heh, heh! He can't deal with that!" … "The damned idiot! I'm going to teach him yet…! Eat Clarete, eat it!"CRASH! PWA~H! "Well, Mr. Super! How could you think of tossing a bottle at "Clarete", our pet?"… Note: the original, "trompa", is also slang to say one's carrying a hangover and Clarete seems to be a popular wine! So Mr. Super interpreted it like this: Filemón having a hangover from drinking Clarete wine!"

"Hah! Good joke."

"We're doomed…!"

"… PWE~T! A~GH! "Don't let her tighten you with the trunk like that! It's bad for the stomach!" … "W-we'll discuss this later…! We'll discuss it! Now pay attention, you _coyotes_! Someone's placing junk in the Armed Forces!" … "Yeah, I know… Flamethrowers which only work to lighten cigarettes, choppers which don't lift…" … "And worse: submarines don't rise either…!" …"Well then! You'll go to the Matraca Barracks while pretending to be technicians and checking out the new amphibious tank, the QK-2. If it turns out to be a heap of junk then figure out who tipped them off, how much money they've gained, who do they work for… Move it!" … "Well! Boss! You're progressing, eh? From driving goats to driving tanks! Well, son! Like you want to drive sardines through the Sahara… This guy…! What a jerk!" … "Ah. The technicians… Yes. There you have the famed thing." … Let's go, Boss!" … "Good. I'll write down any irregularities." … BOOM! … "You can note down the first, Boss! It doesn't have a ladder!" … "OK! Turn it on: I'm getting in!" … "Yes, Boss… Maybe this button…" DJI~H! BLAF!"

"Oho! What happened?"

"The tank's turret spun and the cannon hit Filemon's jaw!"

"… "Doesn't look like it, maybe this other…" …"GL, GL, GL!" … TONG! "Hum! It doesn't seem to be this one, either! Hey, Boss… What button is the one that…? Boss! What are you doing there, planted in the ground like a petunia?" … Note: this time the cannon lowered and the blow had Filemón partly sink in the ground! … "But, Boss! What the heck's wrong with ya? Ow! Were you hit by a poisonous wasp or what? OW! O~W!" … PLONC! PATAPAF! BONM! BLANG! CROCK! PAF! "… Look for the instruction booklet, you donkey!" … "Y-yeah, Boss… Let's try this deep cupboard… Well, they're not here…" … Note: he was actually sticking out his arm through the barrel! "Ah! Forget it, forget it! I managed to turn it on! Let's go~!" … "I laugh at collisions… Heh, heh. This car's a rock, dude! Damn it! Another fool who hits the rear! I'm going to… AH!"…"

"I guess it! The tank impacted from behind and the guy gasped!"

"Yeah! It crushed the rear part of the car! "No, dude! To travel across the city a robust car won't do! You don't know it!" … The guy was now using a steam locomotive!"

"Hah, hah, hah! A steam locomotive!"

"… "Devil! This slit barely lets you see!" … "Careful, Boss! There's a car there in the corner! Careful!"… SCRE~NCH! "Why! Lucky me I was being careful or else…." … "No, I don't like the modern type of cars… Low in height in the front and high in height on the rear… See, the one I bought is better. I parked it there, on the corner." … "Well! Son! What do you want me to say? I'd say the back is rather lower!"… "Leave it to me, Boss! I'll drive! When you're not driving a carriage then…" … "Shut up or I'll hit you!" … "Devil! What are you doing?" … "I… I… Nothing, Boss! Didn't they say this is an amphibious model? I'm going to test it out!" … "Devil, it goes travel across the water… But through the sea-bottom! Water! Water's getting in through the barrel! Gl, gl, gl!" … "Pick the controls, Boss! I'm going to come out and solve it! Done it, Boss!"… "Grfjmbx! Come out again, you moron! Leave the barrel as it was!" … He made a knot to block the water income but that's silly 'cause he needs to go out through the hatch anyway…"

"Sure thin': fire away!"

"I'm off." Lily sighed.

"Have fun with Tom!"

"JEEZ!"

"… * whistling fish * … "Devil! Huff! These divers are getting more dangers dangerous with each passing day! They almost pierce one of my gills!" … "Bah! I don't fear them! One of them tries to get closer, I bite them and then… Then, then… GULP! Yeah, yeah! Me too! I'm coming to rainfed! You can't imagine how dangerous divers have become!" … "Ah! There's a climbing slop! Let's get outta here: I'm about to catch rheumatism!" … BANNER: USE OF BORES TO FISH IS FORBIDDEN! … "Hah! Forbidden? Heh, heh! I throw a bore and I'll get lotta fish!" … "Why! What rattle! Huh! I hit this trigger-like thing!" … FLOASH! BANG! BOOM! … "Yeah, I loved fish! Munch, munch! But I'm now a vegetarian! Got a problem with it?" … "Ah! We've returned to the city!" … "Yeah! There's the USSR embassy!" … "Devil, not the rattling again! I hit that trigger again!" … BLOM! TROP!"

"Oho."

"BLANG! BANG! "Yes, Marshall Pendejovich! I protested with energy to the Minister! He promised that the terrorists won't throw any more bricks through that window!" … "They fulfilled their word! Now they shoot shells!"… TCHLANG! ZIU~H! BOUM!"

"Trouble and Mr. Trouble~…"

"… Terrific Assault on the USSR Embassy! They drive a tank and shoot a shot through the window which blows everything up! Worse is that the aggressors are two "T. I. A." agents and the situation's turned very delicate, we're at the edge of a war with Sharo and we don't know who will win it." … "Mortadeli~llo! Filemoncete~!" … "What an idiot you can be! Grrfjtx! You had to lean on the trigger!" … "What did you want me to do? There were no lil rhinoceros to lean on! Stop complaining! And say "be~h!" or they're going to find us!"…"

"Video!"

"Burner!"

"Needle!"

"V-B-N! Off Air! Two chapters left! See ya around!"

"Hah! Those two sure are walking catastrophes."

Tozukana came out of the room and into the main corridor: she headed north and crossed an opened door into the section with the room's doors: she happened to stumble upon Atarasei who'd just come out of his room and was humming a tune.

"Yo! Oscar Wilde's descendant!"

"Huff. Joanne – san: that joke's running old!"

"On the contrary! It's walking new!"

"How original."

"Where's our fellow conspirer?"

"Who? Alex? Plotting how to assault the Sol Temple...!" He laughed.

"Heh! I knew it. He wants to sunbathe and look appealing to Akemi!"

"Guess that, yeah."

"Anyway… Did the Ice Queen screw ya?"

"E~H? No!" He gasped.

"Or, rather… Miquel did?"

"Ka-Kage? D-don't joke around! The guy doesn't come during the week to begin with."

"But on the night of Saturday… Tee, heh, heh!"

"Don't I have the right to some privacy?"

"Not like I was spying on ya! I'm guessing! But you confessed anyway!"

"Oh heck."

"Well! As long as you don't end up like Wan… Tee, heh, heh!"

Tozukana walked away and Atarasei sighed and rolled his eyes from behind the sunglasses.

"That gal… Huff."

He headed past the cafeteria and stepped into an elevator which climbed up: he exited into a small yard where there were two basketball canisters and Beta X could be seen playing with a basketball while Zarashe was making flexions.

"The Gym Club?" He joked.

"Hah, hah. How funny, Atarasei – kun." Beta X drily replied.

"Heh! Why not." Zarashe laughed back.

"If ya see Alex… Tell him that the Sol Temple's famous for the tourists who come to sunbathe there!" He joked next.

"OK! Heh, heh, heh!"

20:08 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Shah, shah, shah! Today's chapter was funny too."

"And the continuation will DROWN ya!"

"Shah, shah, shah! Ya gotta be Blue Wave. I heard of ya from Yamato Man a while ago~…"

"Correct, Needle Man!"

A Net Navi named Needle Man had been jumping across the platforms of the Reverse Internet when a voice rang out.

Needle Man's face skin was black, too, he had no nose, his eyes were colored yellow with red irises and a smug smile was drawn on his face: a small red vertical rectangle was set on the forehead.

His upper body was shaped like a circle with a dome over it: the color of his choice was navy blue: the front part of the circle had a rectangular vertical cavity cut out with eight slightly curved metallic pieces set in a vertical row.

Four needles came out of the dome part of the body (and having an orange circular edge circling the spot from where they sprouted out from) around the head which was drawn inside of a larger needle.

His arms were human-like given how they were attached to the body: orange-colored bands split it in two halves with the upper half being colored navy blue and the lower half tinted sky blue: a needle came out of each shoulder, too: four blackish long fingers were set at the ends of the arms.

The armor ended below the torso: the rest of his body's skin was plain black in color plus a small orange spot below the upper body.

The boots began over the knees and followed the same pattern as in the arms: a needle came out from the armor over each knee: they had a small hollow cavity cut close to the heel.

"Shah, shah, shah! Show yer hide!"

"Delighted!"

A new adversary warped into the area and stepped out of the "portal" while chuckling under his breath.

Blue Wave's main color, curiously enough, wasn't blue, but a shade of silver-like white or, rather, sky-blue color.

His helmet, like all of the other "Shunoros" members, only protected the front and sides of the head while allowing his blue-tinted hair to freely flow out.

As seen from the front, the forehead of the helmet had a device mounted upon it colored metallic gray: it was built using three different parts and the central one spanning across his forehead was shaped like a climbing hill: there then was a triangle-like extensions popping upwards with an orange-like spot on the center of it close to the top: a small piece in the form of an inverted triangle extended downwards and that was where his blue transparent shades were affixed at.

The sides of the helmet were painted in that sky-blue color and had no decoration on them save for the "mizu" or "water" _kanji_ painted over the ears using silver-like ink.

The part of the helmet behind the front triangle had a fin spanning across it and until the back: the fin was divided in three parts as seen from the sides: a navy blue-colored climbing ramp line marked the middle section and the segment below it was colored in a dull gray color while the upper one used the sky blue color: a circling metallic band curved along the rear of the helmet and offered protection for the lower part of the head and the neck as well.

A metallic collar-like piece of armor was located around the base of the neck followed by the chest armor which had a metallic upper band followed by an inverted triangle-like piece of armor: the center of it had the initials "BW" set there.

The shoulder armor could be described as being the NW and NE quarters of a spheroid.

Each had a navy blue descending ramp – like line drawn across its length: the lower edges were curved and metallic coupled together with a small square piece on the SW and SE corners of the armor as well.

The forearms' armor (starting at around the elbow and past the exposed segment of arm covered by blue "skin") was rather simple in design having just a small ramp aiming past the armor and emerging from close to the upper edge: they were colored sky-blue too while the hands also were covered in blue "skin".

His boots were also simple in design: they just had a trapeze-shaped piece of armor set vertically over the knees and one small triangle-like piece close to the star of the toes which had two small openings: it looked like it could vent off heat building up inside of the boots: the soils were plain metallic gray.

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's go! Oreichalcos Boundary!"

"Coming! Shah, shah, shah!"

The "Boundary" formed and Blue Wave suddenly closed his eyes and formed a stamp with the word "mizu" or "water" on it.

"Come out of purity Spray Maiden! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out! Undine!"

"What the heck?"

A woman-shaped spirit-like creature formed and a tidal wave ensued which washed Needle Man away and he hit the invisible wall to bounce off it and hit the ground only to be washed over again: he groaned and stood up while Blue Wave snickered.

"Like End Angel, I decided to pick an Arte from _ToS_."

"Heck.

"And both dealt 500 points of damage, so… You've lost 1000 out of 2050, you see. My top is 2650! And now… Ocean's Pressure!"

"What the heck?"

Blue Wave formed two edited Super Vulcan which had water deposits on them: he submerged those on the water he'd formed (knee-high) and filled them up as Needle Man formed two cannon muzzles on his forearms and aimed.

"Needle Cannon! Messy Shooting!"

"Ocean's Pressure!"

He began to shoot out high-pressure water beams which hit several parts of Needle Man's body and he was forced to recoil while he didn't mind the needles hitting him: the guy advanced and kept on pushing Needle Man back until he hit the wall and got pinned against it by the pressure: the deposits depleted and he chuckled.

"Each of the four shots one barrel can do clock at 100 HP of damage and thus I inflicted a total of 800 HP! You've got only 250 HP to go and your earlier attack only inflicted 400 HP of damage to me!"

"Crap! That happens 'cause I'm rusted…!" He grumbled.

"Admitting your own flaws? We've revamped a lot of our strategies!"

"Hah! But ya aren't the only one who can rip things!"

"What!"

"Go, "Zekrom"! Lightning Strike!"

"Zekrom" formed there and formed an attack which it used to hit Blue Wave: he roared and dropped to his knees.

"Damn it! The water field also makes the attack be 4 times more powerful: its base power is 130 points, and 4 times that…! 520 HP lost…! I've almost lost 1000 HP…!"

"Hah! Who's the one who lowered the guard now? Shah, shah, shah!"

"This savage…!" A twitch formed over his right eye.

"Go! "Cross Thunder"!"

"Grurrurugru~h!"

The bluish strike of thunder inflicted additional damage to the guy and he was starting to smoke: he hissed and drew a sword which glowed with a green glow.

"Wood Slash! 270 points! And two times effective! Be gone!"

He slashed "Zekrom" and the Pokémon vanished but then Needle Man grinned and revealed he'd formed the Destroy Pulse Program Advance in the meanwhile.

"Destroy Pulse!"

"Ugrkua~rgh!"

"That inflicted 1600 points! 2520 HP lost! Only 130 HP left! Reversal of tables, ya see! Your own Field betrayed ya!"

"Fuck! Ocean's Pressure…!"

"Needle Attack!"

Needle Man jumped and then enlarged his needles as he dived for Blue Wave and began to hit him with several of the needles at close range: Blue Wave roared but managed to shoot his loaded weapons which had morphed into one-muzzle cannons: he shot both of them at the same time and the pressure made pushed Needle Man towards the dome, making him bounce off it and hit the ground.

"Fuck! Each needle blow was 50: I got 2 and I have 30 HP left! That guy has got received 120 points of damage from each cannon and has about 10 HP left…!"

The "Boundary" titled and then converged as both panted and struggled to get to their feet: Blue Wave got up first and simply ran for Needle Man and kicked him in the chest to then shoot another two rounds at him: he was automatically retrieved and he chuckled.

"Heh… Close, too close… The power of each weapon fell back to the default 60 per cannon but… Huff. I gotta warn the others!"

_If you look down on us then you're calling for trouble! Hah, hah, hah!_


	7. Chapter 7: Inferno

**Chapter 7: Inferno**

12:22 PM (Philippines Time), Tuesday January the 13th…

"… _Marchando_! Well, Legato, fella… I don't see anything weird in the base building… The robot's there but it looks like it's got some frozen spots and hasn't moved for months."

"I see. Continue the inspection: maybe they dropped by in a rush and forgot some clue regarding where in Panama they're at."

"OK! _Marchando_!"

"Mwah, hah, hah! Dare to defy the High One?"

"Huh? Who's there?"

"Raging Flame! The hottest guy EVER!"

"Oh yeah? Then ya wanna face me, I take it!"

"Sure as Devil!"

Burner Man had been patrolling a corridor somewhere with multiple wooden doors when a voice rang out from close by: he looked amused and maybe somewhat cocky.

"Come out into the front beach!"

"OK!"

Burner Man rushed to the left and found a pair of metallic gates which he kicked open to rush down some steps and cross another door which led into a small beach: it was clear now that the facility was built within the island's lone peak.

"See! I'm going to turn this place into an Inferno which will make Dante's one look pale in comparison! "Abandon all desire, thee."…!" … Although the full quote is "Those ones who pass through this gate: abandon all hope!"… Heh, heh, heh! I dunno why but in _Biohazard Revelations_ they preferred to use this version."

"Come out already! I'm itching for a fight!"

"And you'll have one! By Moriarty!"

Raging Flame finally dropped down from higher in the peak and landed on the sand while grinning.

He had a helmet on which only protected the front and sides of his head given how his hair freely flew out from behind him: transparent red shades covered his eyes.

The helmet's forehead included a large metallic horn and two yellow shapes near the outer edges shaped like the Alphabet "M" character which were glowing with a brightness-changing yellowish light: one moment it glowed strongly the other it glowed in a faint manner.

There was a metallic edge running across the forehead and along the length of the sides together with the ear-pads which had the drawing of the "honoo" or "Flame" _kanji_ in orange color against a black background.

His chest armor appeared to be pretty thick stuff and had four diagonal-oriented grayish diamonds built into it: the Alphabet letters "RF" colored yellow had been drawn on the center.

The shoulder armor was thick as well: there was a round yellowish band circling the shoulder joint and from there reddish armor extended to protect the whole shoulder: it ended with three short metallic claws set on the edge of a valley-like opening.

There was a bit of exposed arm covered by black "skin" before the forearms' armor (starting at the elbows) began: the forearms' armor started with a circle protecting the elbow and a metallic diamond-shaped piece set over the upper edge of it while aiming upwards.

The rest of the forearm and hand were protected by a layer of armor in the form of a cylinder's upper half with two brownish plates set over it plus a small brownish dot on the left side of the armor which looked like decoration.

A small crevice split the set into two parts: the aforementioned part and a more simplistic running across the reverse of the forearm and wrist: his hands were covered in black "skin" as well.

Regarding the rest of his upper body and legs, it was enough to say that they were covered in black "skin" and that some brownish diamonds were set in a column running down the sides of the body until where the large boots began, at around the knees.

The boots were thick and big as well and they began at the knee: a metallic hexagon was set on the upper edge and its upper half served as additional protection for the legs: their dominant color was, of course, a fierce bright red color.

Another two hexagons were set stacked below the upper edge along with two small diamonds extending from the second hexagon's SW and SE corners.

A thin black line travelled from the ankle to the start of the fingers before drawing an arch and forming a small black cavity from which a metallic triangle emerged and pointed northwards: there was another one large in size and colored in a dull orange color immediately below and the rest of the boots were the double-thickness soils formed by two large curved-edged triangles.

In short: it was obvious that he was a user of "Flame" and that he wanted to look like a though guy.

"Heh! Ya look hot, yeah. Let's hot!"

"Yeah! Oreichalcos Boundary: Engage!"

The Boundary formed there and Raging Flame chuckled as he snapped his right hand's fingers and "Reshiram" formed on the field.

"Go, Reshiram! "Cross Flame"! "Blue Flame"! Total: 460 HP!"

"Reshiram" roared and unleashed both attacks into Burner Man: he groaned and recoiled from the strength of those but then Raging Flame drew a stamp with the "hi" or "fire" word on it.

"Clothed in scorching hellfire Crimson Giant! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out! Efreet!"

"Heck. The same thing you pulled on Needle Man…!"

A massive explosion of fire ensued and Raging Flame laughed as his body glowed.

"I've gained an extra 50% power up! Now it'll be a 100% power-up for all my attacks as long as the Boundary is active! You've got 2300 HP, I've got 2850! But now yours has lowered to 1840 HP! "If I went over the grieved city, if I went over the eternal suffering, if I go over the annihilated citizens… Morality moves the honorable Creator… Sacred power, unmatched wisdom… First love, create me. Eternal objects are created further ahead of me than normal objects, yet I stand for eternity, abandon all desire, those who enter here…" … That's what's written in Hell's Gate, you see!"

"Che. Ya wanna play the smart guy!"

"Heh, heh, heh! Fire Slash! 100% bonus! 200 plus 200! 400!"

"No – one… STOPS ME! BURNING… JET!"

Burner Man ignited his jets (colored blue as in wielders) from the tubes at the sides of his head, the burners at the end of his forearms and the exhausts on his back: he shot forward and began to zigzag around Raging Flame while forming walls of bluish flames to trap him: he began to laugh and Raging Flame gasped.

"Hah, hah, hah! Ya are a cornered mouse!"

"Wha~t?" He grumbled in annoyance.

"Bite my shiny armor!" He taunted.

"This jerk!"

"Hrah!"

"Ugrah!"

Burner Man rammed into the guy and propelled him to make him hit the dome and bounce off it into the ground: he got damaged from the blue flames but ignored it.

"Damn. That tackle was worth 350 HP! And the flames 50! 400! Bah!"

"This is nothing!" Burner Man laughed.

"Eat Fire Slash!"

Raging Flame managed to hit his back with the Fire Slash but that didn't stop Burner Man: he got rammed again and then Burner Man aimed both burners at him to shoot two continuous streams of flames at the guy who shielded.

"Huff! 400 and 400! 800! I've lost 1200 HP already! But yours have gone down to 1440!"

"That _Danna_ guy on the Seraph Tower day said a battle ain't settled by numbers!"

"Damn it. That guy, the Prince's eternal hatred enemy…!"

"Yeah! I know he stole his donuts!"

"Don't laugh at the Prince, you MORON! Zetsumetsu Meteor! 140 per Meteor and 18 of them will rain down! If they all hit you then you can kiss goodbye! Go!"

Incandescent meteors began to fall around the field at random and exploded upon contact with the ground: Burner Man was moving the whole time so he managed to dodge some: he suddenly jumped into the air and spun around his axis to make bluish flames rain down: he suddenly formed a gigantic spheroid of blue flames which he shot at the guy and he growled.

"Damned! 500 HP! That thing did…! Eat meteors!"

"Oof!"

Three meteors hit him in a row and knocked him into the ground where another two hit him next: he got to his feet and kept on dodging.

"Hah! 700 HP for you! 740 HP left and I've lost 1700 HP! But I've still got A LOT left! This ain't over yet!"

"Of course not! It's about to get hotter and hotter AND HOTTER! As hot as magma, even! Invent Magma Man, _Danna_!"

"Magma Man! Grjxkht!" He growled.

"Or tell Koppa to decorate ya abode with lava pits!"

"Gra~h! I feel… VEHEMENTLY DISGUSTED!"

"That _Mazokuchou_ fella wants to go in a date with ya~!"

"DAMN YOU~!"

"Burning… JET!"

"The meteors aren't over yet! Go! Hit the jerk!"

"Like they'd hit me!"

Burner Man began to dodge and was seemingly counting them: another two fell down and they finally stopped.

"That was nothin', _Danna_ – sama~!"

"This guy…!"

"Is hot!"

"Wha~t?"

"Blow them up and pierce them up!"

"Nya~h! I'm fed up with this! Machine Flame X! 400!"

He formed a flamethrower on his right forearm and hit Burner Man as he rammed into him: Burner Man didn't seem to mind it and laughed while Raging Flame recovered.

"Both lost 400, the guy's got 340 HP left, I'm still at about 700 left…!"

"Did ya meet Ms. Math in yer nightmares?"

"This FUCKING SCREWING SON OF A…!"

"Oho! That doesn't work on Net Navis!" He laughed.

"This DAMNED CLUSTER OF BITS AND BYTES!"

"That sounds more Harvard-like!"

"Harvard-like! Don't make me LAUGH!"

"I'll make ya MOAN!"

"Nya~h! I curse you to become a cat!"

"Try harder! Ask the Mummy to lend ya a hand!"

"Anger Flame X! 440! The end!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura~…"

"Shit! It got bounced off and hit me instead! I'm now at approximately the same level as this guy!" Raging Flame cursed.

"Ya need to try SOFTER!"

"Super North-Wind! Panel Format! Daba Flame X! 460! The end!"

"Area Steal! Hell's Burner, Triple Slot In! Program Advance! Wide Burner!"

Burner Man warped as Raging Flame formed a flamethrower attack which drew the shape of the Alphabet "T" letter but Burner Man appeared behind him and formed an ever greater flamethrower which hit his back and he roared as he collapsed on the ground.

"That sure was a hot burnin' battle!"

The "Boundary" converged and Raging Flame howled something undecipherable under his breath before escaping the scene: Burner Man stopped his burners and shrugged.

"Guess Panama's heat was bad for the guy~…"

"Yeah, I guess so." Legato chuckled over the radio.

"Truly." _Noir_ giggled too.

"Thanks, VP _Noir_! I'm comin' back ASAP!"

"Good. A little payback of that of Saturday~…"

"Of course, sir." Legato sounded amused.

"They need to drink more soda!"

13:58 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Vice President _Noir_?"

"Ah. President Hades, sir."

"Do we have any news?"

"Well. Apart that they obviously are on "Kyutora", wherever in the Kuiper Belt it is at… They don't seem to be chasing any specific goal yet: they're not continuing their Navi abduction campaign either."

"Hum. Maybe the setback of taking double the time to get there keeps Prince Kuroban frustrated?"

"It could be. Anyone would be."

_Noir_ had stepped into a small office room which contained a desk and visitor chairs plus a set of three metallic drawers to store files yet the only piece of non-practical furniture was a canvas hanging from the furthest wall and having an oil-based drawing of a four-mast windjammer sailing into the sunset.

The man sitting on the chair behind the desk looked up from the laptop computer opened atop it.

He appealed to be around 26 years of age and as having a height of a meter and eighty-five centimeters: his hair was neatly combed and brownish in coloring: his eyes' irises were brown in coloring and he was clean shaven.

His clothes consisted on a black suit coupled with black tie and black quality pants: he looked like a typical businessman.

A gray trench coat was hanging from a perch set in the right wall near the door along with a brown hat having a black band around it.

"So that's why he's let his members loose while he tries to go over his frustration and think of something… According to the NASA and ESA data by the Cassini probe, they should've arrived a few days before Christmas and it's already been over 3 weeks…" Hades muttered.

"The frustration must be overwhelming. Else he'd already started up something but he didn't even bother turn on the robot either. Burner Man's report said it all: maybe the members have used the base to cover their escapes there and from there go to the spot where they have the means to instantly travel to "Kyutora"…" _Noir_ exposed.

"Huff. By the way… I heard something of some foreign Navis trying to break into the super computer and Mr. Zero repelled them by using a Pokémon sprite…"

"Ah. Yes, yes. Kyurem. The sheer look of the Pokémon was enough to let them know we take security seriously and aren't some "amateurs" as they thought we were… They came from Turkey."

"Turkey. They did bother to make a long trip in vain. Well. Let that be a warning. Next time we'll send that "Kyurem" after them and we'll cause some minor damage through "noise" bursts… A teaser… I hope they're mature enough to realize that would be but a teaser of what we could really do if we wanted to." Hades sighed.

"True. We're also making sure to tune the filters to pick up any suspicious software… But insofar the only things we filter are the typical spam messages which reach the members' inboxes… Miquel – kun and Andy found out about a small operation by 4 agents of Choina sent from Hong Kong. We tipped off the Japanese Secret Service and they dealt with the topic by sending them back."

"I see. Well. It's a matter of keeping the stability. By the way: did you keep an eye from time to time on the village from where End Angel came from just in case? We didn't want anyone to try to harm his friends or those he knows to figure out his location."

"We did. But since someone there started a rumor that he's in Jakarta then everyone's gone look there. Nobody bothered to check the deal twice… Yet Laika of the Sharo Army has been there some times and that picks me… He must be hoping to seize some lead to "Shunoros"…"

"Hum. Let's hope he tries to be rational and think things twice unlike how he did some years ago."

"Yeah… The jerk… You had that guy standing there and boasting for about a minute and you could've scanned enough to figure out the data was wholly different… And then you say nothing surprises you…" _Noir_ muttered with some annoyance.

"Please, Vice President _Noir_… Let us not mind that."

"I am sorry. I got distracted."

"It's no problem: we're not perfect either."

"Well then. I shall go back. We'll soon see who comes out to shine next: maybe they'll go over the data they've gathered and think of something new: that could take some days…"

"Alright. See you around."

_Noir_ came out of the office and sighed as he entered a code into a control panel close by and entered his own room.

"Phew."

This room had a king-sized bed set against the north wall, a cupboard on the NW corner, a door on the west wall and another on the SW corner plus an LCD TV on the south wall: it looked practical and simple and also was reminiscent of Kage's room.

"V-B-N! Now that fella Burner Man's back from his Philippines mission we can go for the penultimate chapter!"

"Oho."

"… "Yeah. The "Sea and Latest Fashion Trip" guys got a grant to create a new bus line… They're getting rich!" … "Of course… They raised the taxes, right?" … "No, no! What happens is that they carry 700 persons per trip, you see…" … "S-seven hundred, ya say~? Devil! They must gigantic buses, right?" … "No, no! Rather small, see! There comes one…! See? And if they turn the thing full pressure mode we can fill up to 800 persons! Ua~g!" … "A~h!" … "Mpfff!" … "Come on, come on! Move towards the front: there's space!" … Note: these buses are reconverted trash recollection trucks which uses a conveyor to stuff people in a compressed manner!"

"Really…"

"VP _Noir_, sir. I've finished the status check with Zero, sir."

Legato came in and saluted and _Noir_ signaled a chair: he smiled and sat down there while glancing at the speakers.

"… "Yeah… I'm going to embark on the ship to go to the island of Borreguera… What fright!" … "Fright? Why? The ship travels are nice and…" … "Yeah. But this ship's owned by "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips"… I laugh at the galleys!" … "Put some more energy into that rowing! Or else we won't come out of the port…!" Note: the island's fictitious!"

"A modern ship auctioned by rows…! They sure wanted to save up the fuel, huh?" Legato joked.

"Guess that."

"… "I think you also go to S'Amarruga de la Punta, huh?"… "Yeah! With the 8:15 Boeing I think that I'll be there in one hour and…" … "What are you saying, are you mad? You've got at least two and half days of travel ahead of you, see!" … "Come on, come on! How is a flight going to last two and a half days…?" … "A flight, I dunno, but this route is exploited by the "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips"… And, you see, they say it's for the passenger's safety… There's no danger of it falling…"…"

"No way… The plane acted like a bus?" Legato laughed after he'd spun his ear-pads to seemingly ask Video Man.

"Yeah! Most mysterious even: the wings had been cut short and there were no engines. I wonder how it moves." Video Man laughed.

"Shah, shah, shah! "… Devil! The "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips" guys have inaugurated a sea-underground transport line… Using row boats across the sewers! Of course! The manager is buddy of the Minister of Transports, Walks and Hums and gets whatever he wants! But this is gonna end! Alright, Mortadelo! Where are you?" … "Here, in the sofa! _Happy_!" … "Grftjx! So happy being a lazy idiot and the jerk even boasts of it! Take chair, maybe you're going to get fed up with the sofa!" CRACK! OW! "Have you gone mad? I told you I'm in the sofa _with Tento_ and…!"…"

"An idiomatic pun, I take it?"

"Yes! _Contento_ means happy but the joke is that he spelled it _Con Tento_ which means "With Tento"… Mr. Super didn't spot the gap!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"… "How could you think of throwing a chair to Tento, the free fighting champion, the "Caribbean Demolisher"?" … "A~RG! GRA~O~R! ROA~R!" … "AH! A~H!" … "The legs and arms, Mr- Super! Hide them! Don't like him grab the arms and…! Why! Mr. Super! I warned you! Tento is expert in knots! You always let anyone make a mess out of you!" …!"

"What chaos." _Noir_ giggled.

"… "Grmblfj! And Filemón? Where's Filemón?" … "Boss? Ah! What a disgrace! He didn't see it coming, see? Coming out… The truck came at top speed… He didn't have time to dodge… He's in the box!" … "A~h! What a catastrophe! Such a loyal subordinate! So efficient! So cheap! Is this the flower store? Yes! Send flowers! Of the best! A crown, dedicated to our unforgettable Filemón! They brought it… I'll send it to his relatives…!"…"

"Something tells me there's a misunderstanding again." _Noir_ giggled.

"Yeah… And "so cheap"… Really…"

"… "Wow! What a crown! It must've been worth a fortune, eh?" … "Yes, but you deserve it all… You were a great man! You were a paragon of virtues… You…! You…! You…! YOU!" … "Yes, me, but of course. What's up?" … "But Mortadelo said that… when coming out… that a truck… that you were in the box!" … "True!" … "When coming out I didn't the truck running over the puddle, I got stained with dirt and I was in the box… I mean, the savings bank, to request a loan to buy new trousers…"…"

"I see! "Savings bank" is "caja de ahorros", hence why Mortadelo said he was in the "box"… But, really… Acting like he'd died and all… That guy always messes it up!" Legato laughed.

"… "You miserable reptiles! I'm going to give you box! A pinewood one!"… "But… Hey! What do you mean?"…"

"He got annoyed."

"… "Are you annoyed that I'm not dead?"… "Don't ask anything and gallop, Boss!" … "Well! Let's get to work! Do you know what's happening with the "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips" guys?" … "I know it, yeah! Heh, heh! They're the ones who exploited the line from my village to the city."…"The line? The bus line?"… "No." … "The train line?" … "No, the line, the line! They place all passengers in a line and a donkey goes tugging them! And if it brays then they have them pay a supplement of environmental music!"…"It's another of those damned influences! You'll go to the offices and gain proof of the "deals" to guys in the administration to gain favors, cheap deals and perks! Move it!" … "There, the offices are in the fifth floor…. Devil! What a huge guard! " … "I'll distract the guy with the coin disguise, Boss! And you use the chance to slip in!" … "Why! That coin bounces a lot! It must be a "loose coin"… Come here, dear!" … "Aag! It's the "crushing hand"…!" … "Why! I'd never seen 35 Credits coins! Let's see if it's false! ÑAC! Puaj! Faker than a politician kissing kids. Get lost!" … "Come on, Mortadelo, come on! The twists of fate should make you bow down!" … "If you say more stupid stuff I'll bite you, Boss!" … "This is the door! And that wire… it's gotta be an alarm!" … "Don't worry, Boss! I'll cut it and get rid of the headaches!" CRASH!"

"Oho! What happened, guys?"

"_Marchando_! It was a lamp's wire!"

"And the lamp fell atop Filemón. An irony, noting down how he said "get rid of the headaches"…"

"… "Yeah, I know, I know! It wasn't the alarm wire… Gl, gl, gl!" … "We'll have to force the door… But a shot against the door lock will create a lot of noise…" … "Don't worry! Allow me, allow me! I always carry a silencer for these cases… Now you can press the trigger in the most absolute silence!" … "Splendid! There I go!" … BANG! … "Why! How silly of me! I mistook the silencer with the pills for the pip!" … "Devil! What's going on! Attempting to force doors and steal, eh?" … "Me… Me… OW! OW! OUWA~H!" … "Don't complain, Boss! He's simply trying one ear with the other! If he'd bitten you like he did with me…"

"Mortadelo always screws it up, yeah."

"… Shah, shah, shah! "Devil! Don't be so sour-humored! You never commit mistakes or WHAT? Look, Boss! The adjacent department's empty! And the door's open! We only need to remove some bricks and stick out the nose to see what's going on… There, Boss! You can stuff the head in by now." … "There I go! Devil! But what's this? What…?" … TCHANC! … "Well, I know, anyone can mistake the wall! Besides, it stuffed all fluff inside and you needn't shave for another seven months!" … Note! Filemón stuck out his head into the lift's shaft and the top of the shift hit his jaw!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh Walking Trouble." Legato joked.

"Heh. I feel in a better mood by now."

"… "There's no mistake anymore! This is the correct wall! And using the laser beam I'll make up an opening! There, there! Like you were at home!"… "Let's see what ha… A~H!" … "Man! Don't be such a brute! The masons are gonna charge with you intrusion! Go fry monkeys!" … "I'm gonna fuse you with the wall! Fuse you with the wall! FUSE YOU WITH THE WALL!"… The opening was the outer face of the building and he plummeted five floors down! And that's all! Next time: the last chapter of this album! Look forward to it! V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"Off-air!"

"Really… They're so funny…"

"Truly."

"Legato? Sorry to interrupt you, but some Qatar guys tried to get in and Kyurem told them the way out. I'd rather say they won't ever dare to come back." Zero called out through the radio.

"Qatar next after Turkey. No big deal. They're desperate. We've been sabotaging their Cyber World filtering and such to allow the citizens for more expression…" _Noir_ shrugged.

"Surely. Yet I'm still concerned: Kuroban could get a fit of anger and discharge it by having his subordinates attack Internet City."

"Huh. You bring up a good point, Legato. We should be careful or else trouble will knock at the door."

"I know, sir. Maybe next time we need to place "The Sealed One" patrolling the area close to the Super-Computer entrance so as to use it as deterrence?" Legato suggested.

"Good idea. Did you hear that, Zero?"

"Oho. Good idea. They'll believe it's an Evil God which has risen from Hell to CRUSH them." Zero chuckled.

The radio link got shut down: _Noir_ sighed and headed over to the cupboard to draw a laptop which he turned on: Legato saluted and walked out of the room.

"Well. Let's get to work…"

"I'm the queen of the rock!" A voice rang out.

"Who's that?" He wondered.

"Hey! You're Blue Wave! How'd you get here?" Video Man gasped.

"Who knows? Maybe I used a walk-through-walls cheat? See ya~!"

"What in the..."

"… Kidding! It's me, the Sniper Queen! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Tozukana – san…!" He grumbled in annoyance.

"Tozukana. President Hades is not amused. He demands explanations for your behavior NOW." Ms. Secretary icily hissed.

"Yikes!"

"Huff. Why can't we have a peaceful afternoon? I need to work! If you want to tell jokes post them in Youtube!"

_Jeez! Tozukana – san can be bothersome from time to time, yeah! Huff! _


	8. Chapter 8: Unknown power

**Chapter 8: Unknown power**

18:38 PM (Japan Time), Friday January the 22nd…

"… It's been 9 days since we had news of "Shunoros"… Eisei has been seen there and there and so has Sieg but they haven't tried to battle us: I've got a bad feeling about that, Miquel – kun."

"Yeah. I'm surprised Prince Kuroban hasn't come up with any plan or anything yet. I guess he still drags his frustration. But at least you've forgiven me for that of New Year's Eve?"

"For _the time being_."

"Oh come on!"

"That was an affront to MY honor!"

"Alright, alright! Can we forget it?"

"Maybe."

"Gimme a break!"

"You have too many."

"Huff! I've been chasing guys who tried to assault Hikari – kun or his classmates to force us to give them access codes in exchange! I hope they've gotten the lesson already!"

"Let's hope so, but at least we provided them with materialization factors which can be turned on in case of an emergency and none of them could stand up to a Navi."

"Heh, heh, heh. What interesting chit-chat, by Moriarty! What extremely juicy chit-chat, truly!"

"Eisei? No. Your voice's wrong."

"Correct, Shadow Man's lil bro."

"Oh come on!"

"Hmpf…"

"Well! I'm Ruthless Vine! I dunno if Beta X told cha guys 'bout me!"

"Ah. The Greenpeace guy."

"GHRTHAK!"

"Kyutora's local idiom, I take it? Are they green?"

"You MORON! There's no living thing there apart from us which is isn't bacterial organisms!"

"Ah. So Professor Bacterio was there."

"Nya~h!"

"Oi, Andy… I don't think it's a good idea to…"

"Don't worry. I've got the Ryuusei Form… I can pound him in two attacks but I'd rather save it up."

Andy had been chatting with Kage as he patrolled an area of Internet City which seemed to be the outskirts: a voice rang out and he calmly drew a Long Sword: he began to taunt the voice and the guy growled in frustration before he dropped down.

"I'll have you REGRET those words! Ruthless Vine's spoken!"

The guy named Ruthless Vine was obviously another member of "Shunoros" and his design looked like it was heavily biased on that of Blue Wave's with some differences.

The helmet design used a patch of pale green as main coloring: the forehead had been extended forward to form a triangle: this triangle had a patch colored in a lush green color coupled with two small rectangular yellow-colored slits on the bottom edges close to the metallic edge circling the prolongation and which were largely reminiscent of eyes: the "kusa" or "grass" _Kanji_ had been colored in a mud brown color on the very front of the helmet.

The rest of the helmet used that pale green coloring in a small patch above the lush green segment and in the parts near the rear: two small metallic extensions flanked the sides of the head.

These ended at the same level as the lower jaw: a brownish square with two triangle ends allowed for the fusion of the helmet's segment mid-way across the head and two metallic short-length lances aiming diagonally upwards extending past the head: a pair of transparent greenish shades covered his eyes the irises of which were emerald green too.

His chest armor was rather flat in contrast to Blue Wave's and the initials "RV" in a mud brown color had been set on the center.

A small additional lush green plaque with a trapeze-shaped indentation on its lower edge had been attached blow the chest armor by the use of two white hexagons which also were reminiscent of eyes.

A brownish edge surrounded the neck's base and travelled irregularly across half of the shoulder armor's upper edges: it turned metallic white and ended as spikes aiming outwards right on the outer edge of the shoulders' armor: their lower half was also colored lush green and the division was set as line forming two "V" shapes on its path.

His forearms' design and his boots' design were identical to Blue Wave's save for the different coloring.

"So. Only the walking catastrophe and Gray are left showing around here by now, huh? Prince – sama is annoyed?"

"Of course! He doesn't find thrill or fun in anything and he spends days on end without coming out of his quarters." He grumbled.

"Ah. I see."

"Fight!"

"Program Advance. Fire Punch, Triple Slot In. Flame Hook."

"HEY! That's not fair! I haven't engaged the Boundary yet!"

"A true fight won't give you time to prepare."

"Che! Ice Grenade!"

Ruthless Vine dropped a bluish capsule into the ground to turn it into ice and Andy lost his footing and thus couldn't execute the Program Advance.

"Wack!"

"Now! Oreichalcos Boundary: Engage!"

"Huff. This guy…!"

"Who was the one getting confident there, eh? Too late! The Boundary's coming!"

The "Boundary" circle dropped from above and landed on the ground while expanding and covering the terrain: Andy merely grumbled something and got into a fighting stance.

"My turn! Noble servant of the mothering Land! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out! Gnome!"

A mole-like creature dropped from above, hit the ground, and formed some boulders which bounced around and some hit Andy while Ruthless Vine's body glowed with a brownish "aura" of some sort.

"My defense got raised by 50%! Now your attacks will only do 50% of their value as long as the Boundary exists! Each boulder is 200 HP… You got 3 so you've lost 600 HP… Out of 2800… Mine clock at 2650… This is gonna be one of those long battles!"

"If I don't bother to draw my Ryuusei Form out, that is."

"YIKES!" He turned pale on the spot.

"So?" Andy challenged.

"T-this JERK!"

"That's more like you." Kage sneered.

"Nya~h! Wood Slash! 270 points! Go!"

"Shirahadori."

"Shit!"

Andy stopped the blade effortlessly and shot back the damage to Ruthless Vine who shrugged.

"Bah. With my raised defenses I only suffer 135 points of damage and that's the first I've suffered, anyway."

"Program Advance. Count Bomb, Triple Slot In. Giga Count Bomb."

Andy formed the bomb and threw it into the air as it began to count down from 3 to 2 and to 1 before detonating: the explosion inflicted damage to Ruthless Vine and he growled.

"Damn it. I skipped my turn because the Card I wanted didn't pop out yet and this thing delivers 700: it'd normally delivered 1400 because it's Flame-Attribute but… Huff. It could've been worse. So I've lost about 850 HP by now. Bah."

"Bah-Bah Man is on your side." Andy drily told him.

"W-what's with that bored look?"

"Dunno. Maybe nothing impresses me anymore by now."

"Che! And Eisei said you were a more emotional guy!"

"That could be."

"Grah! Enough! Wide Shot, Triple Slot In! Super Wide! 225 per shot: 775 total! Go!"

"Fine. Come."

Andy didn't bother to dodge the attacks and Ruthless Vine gasped as he seemingly realized the why.

"Damn it. Muramasa Strategy… You want to accumulate further damage but the max it can return is 500 points. It would be cut down to 250 points, anyway… 1375 HP less for you! I'm close to the half!"

"Program Advance. Air Hockey, Triple Slot In. Hell Hockey."

"100 per hit but that's been cut down to 50, anyway… Now… Wack! That thing's faster than… Wack! Uck! Grah! Damn! Now! Dodge! I gotta watch the pattern!"

"4 hits. 200 HP."

"I've gone over the 1000 HP lost too, huh."

"So? Did you go visit the Amazon Warriors?"

"How funny." He looked unimpressed.

"Andy… What's with that face?" Even Kage seemed to find it odd.

"Dunno. Ask your intelligence."

"Oh come on! Let's not start to fight each other."

"So! You aren't perfect!"

"I never said I was, Greenpeace Man."

"Nya~h! I want Ridley Scott's _Alien_ to make mincemeat of you!"

"Are you sure it's not lurking that planet?"

"Of course not! Besides, the base is heavily defended and not even the "Alien" can get through a "Dimensional Area"…"

"Ah. So you were being careful in case the CIS and Grievous dropped by."

"Hurricane Dance! 120 per hit! Max 4! Go!"

"Come. And leave. Through the backdoor of shame and humiliation which leads into the _Naraku_…"

"T-this MORON!"

"Jeez. Andy. You're overdoing it, really."

Ruthless Vine quickly spun around himself and produced some air currents which buffeted Andy four times in a row but he merely lifted his right eyebrow as Ruthless Vine returned to his spot.

"Huff. You've lost over 1800 HP by now and you've got about another 1000 left…"

"This is turning dull and uninteresting and I've got better stuff to spend my time with. Like crushing cockroaches…"

"Hey! Stop laughing at me!"

"Andy… Something's weird with you these days."

"Dunno. Could be a glitch, even…"

"Huff. Then we need Boss to check it out."

"With his Holmes-patented microscope…"

"Please… You don't need a microscope to spot a glitch!"

"Heh! Heavy Down X! 560!"

"Ah. I see."

A gigantic cubical statue fell down and created a shockwave which hit Andy and had him bounce off against the dome but he quickly recovered his balance and looked like nothing had hit him to begin with.

"This is weird. Unless… Ah! Life Synchro: this guy must have one!"

"Bravo, Lestrade."

"Shit. So he's letting me sum up damage to then synchronize it with mine and easily finish me off…! Heck! And that can't be dodged!"

"You better bring out the prayer beads. Or go offer your prayers in front of "Sacrifice"…"

"Huff. I know the robot we have is based off Pegasus J. Crawford's "Sacrifice" Duel Monster but its name is Shunoros, you know!"

"And it behaves like it was the Great Evil God Zorc."

"Well! The Prince thought it'd appeal as being more dramatic, you know!"

"I know that you're about to steal the Great Tree Kharlan."

"How do I steal something THAT HUGE?" He growled.

"I mean… The new World Tree… It's still small, anyway. Sneak on Yuan and steal it."

"It's gotta be protected by some spell! And it's what helped unite both worlds together!"

"Funny how it's screwed up in the part when you can travel to the "Remains of the Tower of Salvation" but the in-game English translation says something like "Iselia Tower"… They sure didn't bother to check it out twice, did they?"

"Huff. They could've done that, yeah…"

"Did you have a date with Eisei yet?"

"A date with Eisei? No. And I'm not interested."

"Cyclone is still traumatized along with Urateido?"

"Not so more. Thankfully enough."

"Life Synchro."

"Fuck! Damn it! You'd lost about 2360 HP points and now you had 440 left! Gruwurra~h! Shit. I now have that same amount left."

"Well then. I'll grant you an endless nightmare."

"No…!" He gasped.

The lighting in the Cyber World seemed to dim as Andy closed his eyes and black and red strings of energy began to pour out of his chest emblem: they began to form a "cocoon" around his body while more energy flowed and the formation began to hover before it stopped about five centimeters over the ground: the lighting fell even further and the only lights were the "cocoon" and the Boundary yet Ruthless Vine was pale by now and stepping back: the amplified sound of heartbeats began to ring out as if to add a more dramatic air to the thing.

"… And such…! The anger of Slur – sama has been called upon…!"

"T-this pressure…! Stop! I'm going to go mad!"

"I think we should edit that… We don't want people to say we try to win by fear…" Kage muttered with a sigh.

"… Too late, sinner… You're going to be PUNISHED!"

"Ua~h! SPARE ME~!"

The "cocoon" suddenly exploded in a bright flash of crimson red and black light the energy of which propelled Ruthless Vine through the air until he hit the edge of the Boundary and then dropped into the floor, groaning and somehow managing to stand up: the lighting had returned to the previous level as well.

"Damn it."

Andy had gained a new form which had an "advanced" look to it yet it also looked terrifying.

The helmet's design was rather peculiar because it wasn't a full helmet to begin with: the sides of it had two gray metallic shapes the form of which was slightly reminiscent of the Alphabet "L" character: a fluorescent green incision had been cut in the part adjacent to the face while the larger segments had a yellow-colored incision cut into it.

The segment covering the head was built using a blackish material and could be divided in four sections: the centermost, built like a triangle aiming south and which also covered the forehead: it ended over the nose.

The western and eastern sections of the head's protection had been shaped after diamonds aiming NW and NE plus having green fluorescent material running down the sides to join with the "L" shapes.

The rearmost piece was a mere curved segment connecting the lateral pieces: a gray metallic triangle was drawn on the middle of the head from where a black-colored fin emerged: the fluorescent green line divided it into two unequal portions: front and rear, and the rear one was painted using gray metallic coloring.

Andy's hair came out behind it because it was a "partial protection" model.

Red thick shades covered the eyes and nose plus a small grayish metallic piece of armor was built to protect his chin and lower jaw: the skin over his neck was black in color.

Andy's eyes, visible under the transparent red shades, displayed a total lack of emotion and they surprisingly had switched to a mix of red and blue as if to display his current "Full Synchro" status.

The chest area had a metallic spheroid protruding out of it and a green-colored incision had been cut on the middle of it: the upper front half was colored in a white-like color while the rear upper half was black: however, the whole lower half had chosen gray as color to be used: the piece of armor below it and connecting to the rest of the body shared the same color.

The armor's colors were combined in the rest of the body below the chest segment: the flanks of the body had grey armor with green fluorescent edges while the central part of the body was tinted in pitch blackish coloring.

Regarding his arms' design, a black piece of armor covered the shoulders which were encompassed by metallic spheroids: these spheroids were not "complete" spheroids because they had a cavity from where the arms emerged: a thin fluorescent green circular line was placed close to the upper edge where the armor was colored in black color and formed a dome with a hole at the topmost part of each spheroid the inner edge of which was painted using a yellow palette of coloring: these spheroids also had an indentation signaling the separation between each half.

His arms' skin was black in coloring while the armor built over his wrists was painted using two colors.

Black for the upper half and gray for the lower half: a small thin piece of armor emerging from the upper half and shaped like the Alphabet "L" character turned 90º to the right was also present there.

The legs' armor, however, included two shapes which were a pair of combined cones (fused and aiming up and down) colored metallic gray and set within a green cavity extending from the hips' start to past his knees.

The colors then split as the outer edge of each leg was colored in gray armor while the inner edge were colored black: a green fluorescent line marked the division between them: the lines then drew another cavity which included gray metallic armor plating inside of it.

The feet armor was split in rear and front halves.

Each half was respectively colored black and metallic gray: a fin formed on the front half and it had a green fluorescent line crossing it on its front.

Two discs having an external black edge, an inner thin yellowish edge and a red dome built on the core were set on the upper ends of the shoulder-mounted-pieces: yellowish energy emanated from them and made them look powerful and imposing.

Lastly, two extensions came out from behind the body which happened to be black-colored frames supporting reddish wings which were made of energy flowing from the shorter starting section to the larger outwards section.

"So be it. Let the Land be stained with crimson blood."

"N-no! I don't wanna die~!"

"Red Gaia… Eraser!"

The disks hovering inches from the shoulders flew into the air and then assumed inclined positions aiming diagonally towards Ruthless Vine: they produced continuous streams of reddish energy which travelled across the ground drawing the Alphabet "X" character: before Ruthless Vine could recover from this attack Andy formed a red beam which he shot straight at him: a gigantic dome-shaped explosion spread on the spot and wrecked a large part of the floor just as lighting began to return to show a crater easily ten meters wide and three deep: it was obvious that the attack had wiped off enough of the foe's HP so that the Boundary had gotten cancelled in the meanwhile: Ruthless Vine was struggling to shake the debris off him when Andy suddenly hovered over him and looked down (literally) at him with eyes which denoted a total lack of interest as if he could kill him and not regret it.

"Flee these lands, sinner."

"Kuwa~h! KAMI – SAMA~!"

Ruthless Vine escaped while Andy assumed a fetal position as energy flowed out of him and formed the cocoon again: the energy seemed to be absorbed by his body.

"Cancellation."

The cocoon slowly dissipated to reveal how he'd returned to his normal form by now.

"… Well. Was barely worth a heating up…"

"Andy."

"Slur – sama. What is your command, ma'am?"

"We need to talk."

"Is that so?"

"Your behavior concerns me too."

"So… What should I do, ma'am?"

"Like Kage said… Allow Vice President _Noir_ to check out your software."

A new Net Navi landed there and Andy quickly kneeled when facing them to show obedience.

This Net Navi could easily be over a meter and eighty tall.

Its helmet design didn't look like a helmet to begin with: the forehead was covered by a diamond-shaped green-colored piece of armor from which two tall and white "antennae" emerged in a 45º inclination: something which looked like a mass of hair colored green formed behind the helmet and expanded downwards in a cone-like manner.

The face's skin was normal and the shape was rather feminine yet a bit androgynous at the same time: the Navi's eye irises were red in color.

Its upper body had a white cloth similar to a sweater with three parallel stripes set on its surface running down its length until it ended half-way across the torso.

The shoulders had greenish four-speared stars built into them and two large white sleeves which extended way past the total length of the arms extended from there: they looked thick and like they had some extra mass inside: they formed shapes reminiscent of the Alphabet "L" character.

The hands emerged from two oval-shaped cavities just where the sleeves formed a 45º turn to aim SW and SE: they were covered in white "gloves" or "skin" and were currently closed.

The rest of the body was colored green and looked like a one-piece suit extending until the middle half of the upper body: two greenish/yellowish stripes ran down the sides of the torso until the hips.

Two greenish/yellowish diamonds were drawn around the knees followed by oval-shaped patterns which ended in a triangle on the ankle: the Navi didn't have the typical boots and the legs ended like they were pants which were larger than usual.

Some light radiated from the Navi's silhouette and made them stand out while emitting a powerful sensation: their gaze was calm and didn't display any emotion at all.

"I understand."

"Yet!"

She suddenly drew a thin yellowish blade and arched to aim at a nearby boulder which she split in two to reveal that it was hollow and Shadow Man had been hiding inside.

"Sinner!" She looked annoyed by now.

"B-but I'm not Colonel!" He gasped as he began to recoil.

"Flee."

He vanished on the instant while Slur seemed to suspect something given how she was scanning the terrain: Andy didn't change pose and Kage was silent: she quickly looked behind her and spotted a rock which hadn't been there before.

"Hmpf! Another sinner."

She sliced it up to reveal Bubble Man this time around: he gasped and quickly drew some Battle Chips with the Boundary logo.

"Puku! Ore Chalk Chips…!"

"Flee…!" She hissed.

"PUKU~!"

"Che. We need to install more nodes! I shall see to it! Too many sinners lurk within these lands! The upper layers' ones are nothing but these are sinners which need punishment."

"W-well, ma'am… Bubble Man sure does, yet…"

"Yet?"

"Well. Shadow Man rescued Rock Man and Hikari – kun's digitized consciousness after they fought Forte for the first time…"

"Ah. That is true. I let my anger rise. Serenade would not approve of it. He would rather remind them that their sins will be judged one day."

She cancelled the sword and was now rubbing her chin as if reflecting upon that.

"Alright. Go to have that exam immediately. I do not like that behavior: it is unnatural for you. And do not fight each other either. That is a command, Andy. Even though you are under the orders of Vice President _Noir_, in the field that means I am your Commanding Officer as well."

"Roger, ma'am. I shall offer no excuses."

"Go forth."

"Roger. Let's go, Miquel – kun."

"Right. We will be going, Slur – sama."

"Good."

Andy warped out while Kage shut down his screen: Slur sighed and seemed to be trying to vent off her anger: she suddenly gasped and looked surprised at something.

"This feeling…? Could it be…? But… How? Another side-effect which I was not able to calculate…? I should handle that now and confirm if my suspicions are true… Let us go!"

19:22 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hi there. Ijuuin."

"Ah. Ian Torolov… It's been a while, ever since two months ago… Are you fine?"

"Yeah. I heard that those Shunoros guys are back."

"Sure they are… Come in: I'll brief you."

"And we'll long you."

"Oh heck."

"Lovely. I always seem to stumble upon Superintendent Oda whenever I arrive…"

"One, two and three… Hop."

"Hop."

"Heh, heh, heh. They forgot their donuts."

Enzan had come into the entrance hall of the Net Police HQ to meet a newcomer.

This newcomer, Ian Torolov, was a young man around eighteen years old who appealed to be about 5 to 7 centimeters taller than Enzan.

He had brownish hair combed in a neat manner and brownish irises as well: his face profile indicated seriousness.

He simply wore the same Sharo Army uniform.

He and Enzan had been talking until Superintendent Oda showed up to pull a joke: both fled into the street and Oda whistled a tune as he headed back upstairs and entered his office: he chuckled as he sat down on the chair behind the desk and interacted with the PC.

"Alright. Let's hear to those fellows' broadcast of five days ago. It was amusing, by Uncle Merton and his cursed ranch… Bring a bringer, fellow!"

"Did ya call for me?" Punk showed up on the PC.

"No. I didn't." He was surprised.

"Then…? Ah! The Gray jerk guy!"

"Oho. Did he send you his charming charm?"

"Grah! I'm off before I go mad!"

"Anyway… Let's play!"

"… V-B-N! It's begun! The last! The final! The end! The grand!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"… "Well, yes. I came to Venice because I had some work-related stuff to do and I'll do the channel excursion which the Hotel offered…." … "Me too, me too… Did you know that it's organized by "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips"? Do you know them?" … "Devil! If I know them, you ask?" … "Alright, gentlemen. The excursion's begun. Climb down in order…" … Note: the tour was through the sewer system!"

"Oho."

"… "On the right you seen the channel coming from the Dogo Palace and at the left…!" … Banner: Venetian Residual Water Company. Direct channel from the sewer to the sea." … "This is scandalous! Grtjxt! I want a rent car to return right now to the Hotel!" … "Well. But the cars here are also owned by "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips", eh?" … "I don't care! Bring it!" … "OK, OK. There's one… See, a car for the _comendatore!_" … "Presto! Bene! What were you expecting? The driver has to drive, obviously!" … "Receptionist! Find me a ticket to go back home in any manner! Be it land, sea or air!" … "Well. I only have passages for those crafts which navigate using an air cushion…" … "Ah! A hovercraft! Good, good!" … "Eastern Dock, 7:30 PM… You'll see it there where it says "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips"…." … "A~G!"…"

"Trouble, my fellow, trouble."

"..."… "Hovercraft"… Over air cushion…!" … "Well! It's logical! If we don't place the cushion then the box sinks, you know…" … Heh, heh, heh! It was a box with a crude sail over an air cushion…"

"Amusing, by Merton."

"… "Grmblfj! Mortadelo! Filemón! Are you up-to-date with the activities of "Sea and Latest Fashion Trips"…?" … "Don't bring it up! Damn them! We were in San Guijuelo del Repito, 300 km from here, and we though to come back using the canoes they rent to travel through the river!" … "Ah! Well! A canoe trip through the river is nice, relaxing, quiet…" … "May we reminded you the river's been DRY for 3 years in a row!" …"

"Oho! Truly, by Merton."

"… "Well! Pay attention! We know that a representative of the "Trips" is going to have an interview with a guy named Juanito Batalla in an official Ministry office… And you'll be there to process them all, send them to the prison, and end the damned influence jam affair! And if you fail I guarantee you an ascent!" … "If we fail? Why! And how much will that ascent be, how…?" … It was a nice way of saying he's gonna lynch them!"

"Well! They need a reminder."

"… "L-let's… Hurry it up, Boss! I know a sewer which runs under the Ministry and we can use it to sneak inside! This is it! Jump down, it's a pair of meters!" … "Here I go!" … BOOM! BAUMM! … "Alright. Let's place the stair to go down into the newest sector." … "Heh! A bit longer and they'd used it on Tokyo, eh?"… "Only a pair of meters…!" … "Why! Boss! I swear that… before… Go to some clinic to have your bones wielded! Ah! I think that this is to open the corridor leading to the Ministry… It's going to be a neat job, Boss!"… PLOTCHSSS! It was a discharge valve and he got filled with dirt!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Yo! Meijin – kun. Uncle Moran sends a brick for supper!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." Meijin (crossing in front of the office) skeptically replied.

"… "A neat job…!" … "Devil, Boss! Anyone can make mistakes! Have a "Channel Four" shower! Devil! It's a dead end! We'll have to dive!" … "Dive "there"? Are you mad?" … "Well! Come to this you already have some lubrication…" … "I'm telling you I wouldn't get there ever!"…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Yo! Obihiro – kun. Bring Natural's basketball."

"What's that, a brand?" Obihiro (also crossing in front) asked with some annoyance.

"Natural Harmonia Gropius!"

"Ah. "N", from the Gen V games… Whatever."

"The everlasting cuteness?"

"GTHTHXLH!"

"There he goes, nice chum he is…"

"… "Well… Do you remember the ascent Mr. Super promised?" … "Puaj! It's full of dirt! I can't see anything!" … "Well! It does smell… A lot!" … "I can't bear anymore… I'm drowning!"… "Hold on a bit, Boss! Turn left at the third opening, we're almost there! I think it's here… Up we go!"… RA~RGL!"… They ended up somehow in New York City!"

"Magic, magical, magic… Heh, heh, heh."

"… "Devil! What a day you've had today, Boss! You're not lucky when it comes to waters!" … "I swear I'm hearing voices." … "Maybe there's a patrolling policeman and we can ask him"… "GLUB!" … "Devil! We've been found!" … "They gotta be the cops!" … "Let's beat them! They won't botch our escape!" … Three big and rude escapees! "Gentlemen, behave… O~RGLGL! TUNDS! PAF! CRONCH! UA~H! OW! TUMB! BANG! "… They weren't so much of a policeman, huh?"… "N-not at all!" … "Know what? Let's get out! Sewer and all! I'm fed up!" … "Right, right!" … "Yeah! We believe the three escapees try to run out through the sewers!" … "The mastiffs will find them!" … GRRR! ARRGN! WHOA! RAO~R! ÑAM! GRRR! "Goodness!" … "Do you think we've left the cops behind?" … "Fourteen kilometers, even! Hah, hah! I don't think they'll be able to walk in 4 months!" … "Devil! A thousand devils!" … "This ain't serious! If they're cops and they escape then what do we do? Chase them?" … "Stop, Boss! I know this spot! We're below the Ministry!" … "Yeah. The smell was telling me, anyway…" … "I'll make a hole with the laser gun and get in… And get rid of so much dirt!" … CRONCH!"

"Oho! What happened?"

"Mortadelo's bad aim made it so that the room above them was the toilet and the toilet itself with a guy sitting on it fell down atop Filemón! The guy then threw it at them! "We'll rid of so much dirt! GRFJTX!" … "Why! I laugh at the devastation brought forth by the pestilence last century!"… PLOUF! "Why, Boss! You had to slip!" … "I don't care anymore! Hah, hah! More dirt! Hah, hah, hah, hah! Dirt with green sauce! Hah, hah, hah!" … "Come on, come on. Let's go back to the HQ to see if they cleanse you with a bleach hose and a hydrochloric massage and some detergent spoonfuls…" … "Where'd you come from? Agent Pardíllez got the evidence and the culprits have been arrested on the whole! And you stink a lot! You could shower from time to time, not? You reek of sewers!" … "Sewers, sewers!" … "Dirty Insubordination! Two "T. I. A." agents grab their superior, attach him an off-board engine on the rear and have him travel the whole of the city's sewer network. The poor fellow has needed to go through a scaling in dry-dock, while the Interpol seeks the savage aggressors which…" … "Do you think Mr. Super will ever speak to us again, Boss?" … "I care not! I care not!" … "By Allah! Where did this stench come from?" … THE END!"

"Oho. So in the end another agent got the merits and they ended up struggling in vain!"

"Next season: "The T. I. A. goes and gets up-to-date!"… Video!"

"_Marchando_! Burner!"

"Shah, shah, shah! Needle!"

"Off-air! See ya around!"

"Well, well. Ah! That reminds me…"

He came out and grinned as he checked the offices and then found one in which Obihiro was at working at something with the laptop and listening to music given his headphones: Oda chuckled and took out a folded paper which he unfolded while making sure the visible drawing was aiming towards the front: he placed it in front of Obihiro's screen.

"It's – a – secret! Obihiro – kun! Bye – bye."

Oda chuckled and came out while Obihiro turned it around and grumbled: it was a close-up of the Medusa's face while looking angered.

"Yeah. Like that'll scare me. I'm about to turn 14, you know?"

"… Huff. Is Superintendent Oda gone at last?" Meijin asked as he stepped in and looked around.

"I hope so…" He sighed.

"Anyway… Did you find the glitch in the security layer?"

"Yeah. I fixed it and another one. I guess the programming was done without throughout debugging."

"Huff. Alright. We need to have a solid firewall or else something like Slur or Gray getting in whenever they want will happen again. Not to mention the radio trio…"

"I know, Meijin – san."

"_San wa iranai_… Where's Punk?"

"He wanted to check the mail server because Gray tried to fool him with a mail telling him Superintendent Oda wanted to see him."

"Alright. Ah! Be careful when going back. I've seen a suspicious guy roaming around as of late."

"I know. But I think a patrol policeman tried to ID them and they fled so I guess they won't dare to show up again."

"Let's hope that, yeah. Alright. Keep on with the hard work… I'm going to try to improve the newsletter app…"

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

Meijin came out and Obihiro rubbed his chin while looking concerned.

_I read it wrong or did I pick a weird power spike? What was it…? How odd!_


	9. Chapter 9: Light & Dark

**Chapter 9: Light & Dark**

11:41 AM (Japan Time), Sunday January the 31st…

"… Well! You did have a glitch in the end."

"Yeah. Slur – sama was right: I needed to have my software checked out and now I feel more light-headed and not so annoyed…"

"This spot is good to relax, right? Next to the sea…"

"I know. And I'm surprised that today's the last day of January, Shunoros has been back for about a month, and they haven't resumed using the robot or abducting Navis to start it up… Speaking of which, in the end it turned out the system only drew up energy until they had 5 HP left and then they got warped back to their owners' PETs… Guess Kuroban wanted to make a difference with "Twilight" of Nebula… The shadowy guy who struggled with Regal for control of the org…"

"And who was killed along with Regal when Forte blew up the sub, yeah, Boss did tell us his tale."

"It's been a while. Kage. Andy."

"Solo…! Guess that, yeah. You'd dropped by late October and then vanished… The summer wounds have healed?"

"Yeah. So Kuroban's back. What's his plot?"

"Nothing."

"Sorry?"

Kage and Andy had been sitting in a bench in the wharf and looking out at the docks: today was a sunny day but the wind was somewhat strong, given the way the waves hit the docks: someone had come in from behind and they turned to see.

The guy named Solo was a young man around twenty five years old.

His hair was white and unkempt given how it formed a bundle aiming for every direction downwards: there was no sense of order in there.

His irises' color was blood red and he currently rather serious.

Other traits on his face were red facial marking trailing down his right cheek starting from below his right eye and which was reminiscent of a thunderbolt: two golden earrings evoking some tradition or culture were clipped to his ears.

He wore one custom-made bodysuit the primary color of which was jet black and which was a combination of a sleeveless sweater, a normal sweater and baggy pants which also served as shoes.

The suit also had linear cyan patterns proceeding from around his stomach to the tips of his feet: the sleeves, however, were colored in a dust-like brown colored and ended in orange-colored cuffs.

Woven across the chest was a crest like colored yellow which could be described as two opposing halves of a square with a line climbing down from their SE and SW edges: this line connected with another heading towards the left and then ran diagonally towards the center of the chest: a small square dot was set in the middle of the space between both parallel and mirrored drawings.

"He seems to be frustrated."

"Why?"

"We did tell you we suspected that "space station" wasn't a red herring, right? Well. They did cross the Solar System and past Pluto to a planet named "Kyutora"… After the On'Setsu God of War…"

"Yeah. I knew that name. So they're installed there? How do they come and go so quickly?"

"Some machines which can create a "space tunnel" bending through another plane of dimension and travelling at maddening speeds which makes the trip practically instantaneous… We've found several but they go by biometric passwords and the only one who can authorize them is Kuroban himself from Kyutora… So unless we used one of them as hostage and fooled Kuroban into engaging it then we can't get there. It'd seem, though, that there's been a major setback." Andy explained.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" He looked interested.

"The trip was supposed to have lasted two months, not four."

"So they met with some trouble along the trip and their speed got cut off in half hence why they took double the time to get there…"

"Correct."

"Alright. And Kuroban is annoyed that he didn't foresee some way to fix that on the spot… It if was two months of hiding it was understandable but four months and some evidence screwed it up…"

"Yeah. The Cassini mission saw them using its IR and UV cameras but this info has been withheld to be on the safe side. They didn't want to start a lot of noise in which people would complain why we're still spending so much money in the ISS when it's proven there's a craft capable of crossing the Solar System already…"

"Wise thinking, yeah… Some things are better off not knowing if you realize the consequences of it…"

"Luckily the image reached the ESA HQ when it was late night and there were just 3 or 4 senior officers in charge… They immediately quarantined it and rang up their superiors… The data was sent to major intelligence agencies to try to figure out who it was… The NSA thought we'd had a better hunch and willingly sent us the data…" Kage explained next.

"I see."

"Almost all of them have shown up and challenged us with varying results: some draws, some loses and some wins."

"Hum. Who's pending?"

"Dullahan and Gray…"

"I see. Well. I'll go patrol around and wait for my chance. If I figure out something I'll drop a message next to the nodes. See you." Solo calmly announced.

"OK."

"Bye-bye."

Solo walked away while both stood up and headed back towards a nearby-parked black Toyota car: Andy suddenly looked around in a distrusting manner.

"What's up?"

"I thought someone was spying on us."

"Really?"

"Wait."

Andy walked glued to the wall towards a nearby alley and threw a small vial inside which shattered: nothing happened and he drew the Buster as he assumed a fighting stance and aimed at the alley: there was nothing save for a cigarette which was still smoking and which had obviously been dropped right now.

"See?"

"Heck. You were right."

"Let's bring this to a forensics lab: they can pick DNA from the saliva on it and figure out who was smoking here. But it wasn't any of the "Shunoros" guys: none of them smoke. No one of us does either. Hikari – kun's classmates don't. Maybe someone in the Net Police but I doubt it."

"And Hikari – kun did say he'd seen a suspicious figure roaming close to his house on evenings, too. Could they be connected? Some foreign agent who's trying to figure out how to get codes…?"

"It wouldn't surprise me."

"Huff. I don't want to involve him. All of my troubles started out of that stupid uncle in Chicago and the Tea Party madness over 2 years ago. I thought I'd shed them by joining Golden Star, but… Fuck."

"Calm down. Let's go back to the apartment and play some Wii games."

"Huff. Alright. Heck. Who the heck was here?"

16:57 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff. Well. I wanted to take a break after the busy lunch time in the cafeteria…"

"There you are, traitor to the "Dark"!"

"What? Who's there? And what do you mean?"

"You were one of the "Four Dark Heavenly Kings" who resurrected Forte years ago! On 2007! And now you've stepped SO LOW?"

"Huff. That… That could've been an imitator of me for all I'm concerned."

"Hmpf! Not wanting to admit your sins?"

"They knew I was sinful but they rebuilt me anyway."

Dark Man had been flying across the Reverse Internet when an echoing manly voice rang out.

"Hmpf! How _naïve_."

"I don't think so. I hold no recollection of that. It's like I'm a stray soul who incarnated in this form. The form is the same but the soul is different."

"Hah! Running away from your own foolishness, is that it?"

"To begin with: who are you?"

"Dullahan!"

"Dullahan? Wait. Weren't you the mastermind of those robberies carried out in an old-fashioned manner which kept us stumbling upon horribly crushed corpses…? I thought you were a robot…"

"Hah! I'm originally a "Darkloid"! That robot thing was my way of working in the real world and it helped spread fear!"

"Well then. Show your hide."

"Hmpf. I'll destroy you with just one blow!"

"Don't prattle."

"Hah!"

"Ah! Now I recognize you: Alex told me about you."

"The traitor dog's accomplice, huh?"

"DULLAHA~N!"

"Huh!"

"WANTING TO PISS ME OFF FURTHER? DID YOU THINK MY FRUSTRATION WHICH I CAN'T VENT IN ANY WAY WASN'T ENOUGH?"

"P-Prince Kuroban, sir! That is…!"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO GO OVER THIS? YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAD NO MEMORY~!"

"W-well, sir! But they betrayed the "Charon Brotherhood", sir!"

"That's not betrayal! I told them their roles had ended and that they were free to make their choices! Styx did a splendid job and you had to act like a dime spy! I'm regretting bothering to rebuild you! I should've ripped off Yami Marik's Deck Monsters and have they deal with the thieves so it'd cause further fear! How's that like? HUH?"

"T-that cannot be…!"

"Stop using those names or I'll come there AND DELETE YOU MYSELF BECAUSE I'M FED UP WITH YOU BASTARD! LASER MAN EXE!"

"Ah! So your name was Laser Man. And "Dullahan" was a codename."

"So what!"

"Laser Man! I'm talking to you!"

"Huh! I thought…!"

"Did I say "chat-time is over" or what?"

"N-no, sir, but…!"

"Ghtjsbt! By my bloodline! I'd never met such an idiotic program before!"

"Uh-oh…" Dark Man was apparently foreseeing trouble.

"Fight! And if you lose I don't care! Just come back before I go and put an end to your idiocies! Get it? Or do I need to tell you like you were a 5 year old student?" Kuroban fumed over the radio.

"R-roger! Oreichalcos Boundary, Engage!"

"Alright. My analysis says you have 2550 HP and mine are 2600 so we're pretty close in HP terms…"

The "Boundary" got deployed in the Field and Laser Man got into a fighting stance while loading up energy on his cannons.

"Die. Cross Laser!"

He suddenly warped and appeared very close to Dark Man: he shot two energy attacks which formed a cross-like shape and left a scar in that shape on Dark Man's torso.

"Huff. Each delivers 250 of damage but since they're powered they can deliver 375 each… 750 in total… Well. It could've been worse."

"Sky Breaker Laser!"

Laser Man loaded energy again and shot a reddish beam of energy at the dome's "sky" to open up a gateway and make incandescent meteors drop down: Dark Man began to dodge.

"Killer Beam! Base power of 300 points!"

"Uack! Huff! Grah! Eat these! Pierce Laser!"

He exposed his hands' palms and formed two thin lasers from the squares there which managed to pierce through two spots on Dark Man's body but he didn't mind that.

"Hum. 150 each, 200 when powered up… 400… I sum up 1200 and I've lost close to 50%... You can't take him lightly, no… Anyway… Dark Shadow!"

He formed a blackish axe with purple edge and flung it while it spun upon its axis: Laser Man easily caught it and shattered it with both hands.

"Hah! Weak."

"I wonder about that."

"Huh? What?"

Dark Man suddenly became a cloud of bats and shot forward to fly past Laser Man while leaving some cuts there and there: he then reformed and shot another Killer Beam aiming past Laser Man.

"Hah! You missed."

"I wonder about that."

"What?"

The Killer Beam bounced off the dome and hit Laser Man from behind: the blow made him meet the ground so he growled and warped to stand up when landing back on the ground.

"You got hit by 5 bats, each delivers 100… Plus 300… 800 less for you, Laser Man. You've lost about 1100 HP so I'm close to your mid-point as well…" Dark Man calmly announced.

"And there I thought you lowlife didn't know how to fight anymore!"

"Huff. Just because I'm in charge of the cafeteria that doesn't mean I don't go spar with the others. Yamato Man is a challenging opponent and he helped me improve."

"No affronts, Laser Man!" Kuroban icily hissed.

"Huh! R-roger, sir."

"Keep it like this. And no grudge either…"

"R-roger, sir."

"Hum! It came! Corn Shot, Triple Slot In."

"Hah. You will produce pop-corn when they need to see a movie?"

"Huff. Laser Man… That sarcasm doesn't fit you but. Whatever. Just don't insult their intelligence or something like that."

"Program Advance! Corn Party!"

"Pierce La…! Ugruga~h!"

Laser Man had been about to shoot out his "Pierce Lasers" but Dark Man's Program Advance began to shoot out round explosives which exploded several times in random locations and began to soon overwhelm Laser Man who was trying to dodge but was trapped: Dark Man merely kept on shooting and ignored the two "Pierce Lasers" which Laser Man managed to fire and hit him.

"… What! 640 HP deduced! I've lost about 1750 HP! But I did inflict 400 points of damage to you!"

"I won't deny that. I've lost 1600 myself. But there's still time to fight."

"First of all…! Holy Panel, Dream Aura! Better."

"Ah. Yes, yes. Fire Punch, Triple Slot In."

"Cross Laser!"

"Uack! Program Advance! Flame Hook! This is two shots and each inflicts 200 points: the first one will erase the Dream Aura and the second will inflict 100 while I suffer 750… 2350 HP lost out of 2600… I must be careful!"

"Hmpf! 1850 out of 2550… I have plenty to go on with!"

"Fool. A battle isn't settled by numbers! It's settled when neither opponent can move anymore!"

"That voice…! You lowlife! Burai! The Mu Continent guardian!"

"Kuroban. I'll teach you a lesson yet! And your summer strategy won't work anymore."

"Hmpf! You lowlife just provided what I needed! Something to look forward to…! Heh, heh, heh…!"

"Crap. Spoke too much…"

"Starting to regret thou words, oh courageous one?"

"Shut up."

Burai, the newcomer, wore a helmet which had been painted using a black and red color-scheme: it was a partial guard given how it revealed his hair in its entirety: the hair which was flying straight upwards in a wild and chaotic manner.

The helmet too bore a pair of transparent purple shapes and having the shape of the Alphabet letter "X" which seemed to be layered across his helmet while his throat was guarded by a silver neck-guard, somewhat similar to a gorget: his ear-pads were small greenish domes.

He wore a smooth and plain black cat suit which began at his jaw line with Solo's clothes emblem drawn over his chest while now being colored in a crimson red color: the catsuit ran uninterrupted along each limb until reaching the elbows and knees.

Starting from those spots, and, with the exception of his right arm, they were further covered in solid-looking black armor: and this black armor was further alloyed with a red slotted coil with a single red spine forming around the left wrist plus the feet ankles.

He also bore two knobbed spaulders made of what seemingly was the same material over his shoulders to protect them.

His right arm, by comparison, bore a thick black bracelet circling around the wrist: it turned his right fist and forearm into a mass of burning purple flames the brightness of which was constantly shifting.

He was holding a sword on his right hand which had a reddish hilt with yellowish ends: the blade had an indentation running across most of its height which began as a thin cone-like form, spread into a circle having a greenish dot in the middle, and ended close to the edge: the blade was shaped like a trapeze with diagonal sides and had some grade of thickness to it unlike _katana_ or normal swords.

"Hit a vibe~? Did Goddess Hylia bless thy soul?" He now sounded smug and taunting.

"Shut the hell up!"

"Trouble."

"Guess that." Laser Man seemed to agree with that.

"But at least his frustration's gone."

"I must admit that it benefits us…"

"Killer Beam!"

"Pierce Laser!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"Heck. But I've got a Holy Panel too!"

The attack impacted but didn't do much damage to Laser Man given his use of the Holy Panel: his own attack failed because it was repelled by the Dream Aura Dark Man sprouted.

"So you're left with 550 HP and I have 350 HP… Close!"

"Did the Shuuen no Mono go and challenge you to come after him into the Demon Tribe's World, Burai – chan?"

"GRTJXHT!"

"Welcome to the party, my dear, as Alec Trevelyan said."

"This damned fool…!" He got a twitch over the right eye.

"Program Advance! Yoyo, Triple Slot It! Yoyo Great! 6 hits per 100 points: 600… Yet… You still have the Holy Panel so it'll be cut to 300…"

"Hmpf! Then… Taste this Program Advance I came up after several tries and simulations! First! Super-North Wind! Panel Format!"

"Heck. Eat Yoyo!"

"Hmpf! I still have 250 HP left anyway! Ryuusei Shower, Attack Plus 30, Uninstall! First step: my Sky Breaker Laser will make 6 meteorites with 50 points of base power fall down… They're increased to 75! So if they all hit you you'd lose 450 HP! Second step: I shoot a continuous laser which hits you and delivers 200 points of damage, 300 with the upgrade…!

"Heck. And it gets worse?"

"Third and last step: a large meteor falls down and delivers another 300 HP of damage while cracking all panels! Hah! Go! Sun and Moon!"

Laser Man aimed his lasers at the "sky" and made the meteors start to fall down: Dark Man managed to dodge them by inches but then got caught by the laser which hit him: he growled and then spotted a large meteor falling towards him: he dodged but the radial shockwave of the thing hit him and he collapsed into the ground.

"Hah! I win!"

"Hum. That Program Advance has some merit. Maybe you still have some use…" Kuroban returned to his serious mood.

"Huh! I am glad, Prince."

"As long as you stop acting like an idiot… I have little tolerance… And what you did in the "Charon Brotherhood" a year ago wasn't precisely a good sign… Remember: this is your last chance… Last! Pull out."

"Roger."

Laser Man warped out while Kuroban giggled: Burai seemed to be getting further annoyed.

"Girahimu wants to go into a date with ya~…"

"What in the…!"

"His true form will mince you and drop you into Hell!"

"I'm SO scared." He played the unimpressed.

"O~w… I got confident… That Program Advance is a nightmare and I did dodge the meteors…!" Dark Man managed to get to his feet and groaned from the pain.

"Huh? I feel something… Strong… Coming closer… It ain't Kuroban or his subordinates… It ain't Slur or your companions either…"

"Blues?" Dark Man wondered.

"Could be, yet…"

A spot could be seen coming from a distance at a quick speed: Burai drew his blade and Dark Man jumped into the air as if to get out of the way and leave the ground clear for Burai to tackle it: the dot suddenly vanished of sight and both looked surprised.

"What?"

"… I'll borrow that." A voice whispered.

"Huh? Who's there? Uack!"

"What!"

There was a sudden flash and then Burai saw that Dark Man had collapsed and the "thing" was nowhere to be seen.

"It's gone. Dark Man. What happened?"

"Huh… My materialization data… It got copied!"

"Trouble. Whoever was that knew that you had the data and sought it for some purpose."

"Yes… I don't think it's a joke… Video Man or Needle Man wouldn't do that, anyway… And they're not that fast either… Burner Man isn't either and you said the signature was different." Dark Man rubbed his chest area with the right hand.

"Yeah. But the only thing I could feel is that it was strong… Yet…"

"Yet?"

"… Nothing. I thought I'd felt something else but I think I mistook it."

"Alright. I'm going back to the HQ."

"If I find something I'll drop a message. You should report this: there could be a way to scan for any Navi which isn't anyone you know holding materialization data."

"Yes. I'm sure Zero could come up with something indeed."

"I'm off."

Burai's body seemed to "phase" and glow before he vanished from sight and Dark Man shook off some of the dust.

"Could it be some experimental Navi by the Choina guys? Maybe the Virus Lab is a cover for the development of a new type of Navi? But I'm speculating, anyway."

He warped into the Cyber World of Purgatory and found Andy talking of something with Legato in a hushed tone so he ignored it yet he took notice that Legato was worried: Freeze Man was standing close by.

"Hum. Maybe they've found evidence of some desperado wanting to assault one of our members and kidnap them in exchange for access codes yet that shall not work. We have the backing up of the Net Police and the NSA so they should think it twice."

Freeze Man finished working with a holographic screen and sighed.

"So? Do we have any results yet?" Andy asked.

"It's not a Japanese person. And not Asiatic either… More like Caucasian: and that means Europe…"

"I see. A European listening in and then rushing away… They gotta be some Eastern Sharo estate… Or it could be from Sharo, too. But it wasn't Laika, right?"

"No. Laika's still in Moscow and they seem to think he brings trouble if he goes to Japan and has to be reprimanded so he's being told to stay here and relies on Torolov for news. Search Man has an order not to come here and since it comes from the Commissioner he'd never disobey it."

"Good. I don't want them to stick out their noses."

Freeze Man looked slightly worried at the chat but simply warped out.

"I know. Maybe it's related to the man your friends saw close to their home in more than one occasion?"

"… It could be, yeah… Let's hope they're not the cowardly type…"

"Cowardly in the sense that they go for cowardly tricks, right…?"

"Of course."

"… Miquel – kun… I'm concerned about this, really." _Noir_ was telling him in the real world.

"Bah. We've dealt with those before." Kage shrugged.

"I know. But insofar all were blunt and rushed… This one doesn't seem to be like that… Maybe they're a former agent of the Seraphs?"

"I don't care who they are. They're just another desperado."

"Let's hope so…"

"Don't be so defeatist, Boss. We aren't perfect or invincible but we can beat those desperados."

"And what if they target Hikari – kun?"

"He's got the nanomachines which would tell us ASAP. And I doubt them having access to a "Dimensional Converter" either. They'd need to travel and there aren't many hideouts on that district. All houses in a 950 meter radius are owned and occupied. And even a car needs some seconds to turn on… By the time we get the signal we can easily send any of our Navis to those coordinates and stop the car, halting the plot."

"Ah. So you've studied that _scenario_ too. Good, good."

"Thanks, Boss. Well. I'd rather go back already. I've got some stuff to settle… Let's go, Andy."

"Alright. See you, Legato."

"Be careful, Andy – kun."

Andy exited while Legato sighed: he then hummed a tune before he warped into the real world and entered _Noir_'s room: he looked distracted or nervous.

"I've got a bad feeling… They could be a desperado, yet… Something bad is about to happen…! Be careful, Miquel – kun…! This could be dangerous!"


	10. Chapter 10: Danger

**Chapter 10: Danger**

08:45 AM (Japan Time), Thursday February the 4th…

"… Hum! A good morning patrol… Yet! We must be wary! There's someone lurking out there who has materialization data… We did send a warning to the Net Police and the Science Labs but nothing's happened: the analysis of Dark Man reveals that the data was copied neatly and the assaulter clearly knew the size it had, the shape it had and all…"

"It had to be Know It All Man! Japan Man – sama~!"

"J-Japan Man? What affront is THAT? My name is Yamato Man!"

"Dunno! I felt like it, Mr. Samurai."

"Come out! "Shunoros"!"

"Heh! The coolest guy of them all's saved you for the last!"

"… Gray Thunderbolt."

"Yessir. Kage did tell you guys 'bout the great me~…"

A Navi named Yamato Man was patrolling a "surface" level of the Reverse Internet evidenced by the brighter illumination and the presence of those "nodes" there and there.

Yamato Man was clearly over a meter and eighty tall in height and wore blue-colored _samurai_ armor over his body: it had a golden-colored band around the waist which was divided by several vertical and thin black lines.

His face was colored in a dull gray color: his mouth was a mere line shaped like a trapeze aiming upwards while a small cubical piece was set on his chin as well and his eyes' irises were brown in coloring.

The round shoulders had a yellow band around their half to split into upper and lower portion.

Three rectangle-shaped plaques of armor extended slightly below the shoulder but before the forearm: each forearm was covered in cyan armor plus a yellow ring around the wrist.

The top of the palms had a small dome-shaped yellow-colored object atop them: the arm and hand "skin" was colored black.

Another three layers of armor covered each hip: the pale blue and thick lower body began beneath the torso armor: it ended below the knees from which the feet emerged a piece of armor shaped like the front half of a cylinder covered the black "skin" while the front and rear of each foot were protected by blue armor which had a yellow border: it ended around the ankle and left a small space between each piece.

The neck had a thick yellow metallic band around it which covered all of it expect the front: a _samurai_ helmet covered his head.

A yellow-colored metallic piece shaped like a triangle facing forward was set on his helmet's forehead: there was another above it the shape of which was reminiscent of the Alphabet "V" character.

The chest section of the armor had a circular cavity on it with his drawing set on it: it was a black circle followed by a white space and a second black circle: a black dot was set in the middle and three small lines spread from it until the inner border aiming north, SW and SE: each line had an additional curved line cutting through them near the lower end.

"Heh, heh, heh. It's time to ring up some ghosts!"

"Ghosts? What for?"

"To populate a creepy~ mansion… Luigi's Mansion!"

"I don't know what you mean and don't need to."

"Heh, heh, heh. No news yet but I've got a hunch it won't take much longer, you see~… Or they could be in the summer, like it happened with _Platinum_… Heh, heh, heh. They're teasing us a lot! Maybe we'll soon have news of this year's movie, Number 15!"

"Stop bringing up things I don't need to understand! Fight me!"

"Fine~… Guess I need to chat with one of the dynamics fellas!"

"Hmpf."

"And here I come~!"

Gray Thunderbolt dropped down.

His design was radically different from that of his companions: his face's skin color had changed to a dull olive green – like coloring and a faint black and thin line drawing of an electrical current's spectrum shaped like a triangle formed on the SW and SE corners of his face and climbed past the note until they ended slightly beneath the forehead's helmet edge.

His eyes, nose and mouth were unchanged even though the eyes' irises were of a blood red color.

His hair had become orange-colored and spread out from behind the helmet in a wild flock manner reaching until the base of his neck.

The helmet's design was peculiar: it had a form seemingly made out of a spheroid's upper half and its main color was gray: the center of it had a drawing which could be interpreted as an arrow pointing downwards which also had two small triangles popping out of the sides: it seen from above and looking from north to south it could be a cutaway silhouette of a tree as well.

A golden-colored plain horn formed on the middle of the drawing and aimed upwards.

The ear-pads had two parts: they began as simple gray metallic disks attached half-way between the upper helmet and the sides of the rest of the helmet: then a dome formation sprouted from there and had a small hole cut atop it.

The sides of the helmet included two slightly curved triangles colored orange spanning past the lower jaw by a few centimeters.

His neck was protected by circular gray bands stacked one atop the other with a total of three plus a wider circle at the base of the neck.

Regarding the chest armor, it could be described as simplistic: the color of choice was gray again and the only noticeable things on it were two cavities cut on the center of it shaped after diamonds.

They were red on the inside and there was a very thin black line cutting through them spanning half-way across the chest.

His arms were covered by a peculiar golden armor which seemed to reinforce their strength: each shoulder had a soup bowl – like shape along with the cover set over it: a golden horn spread from the center of the cover.

The armor then continued with a slight division drawn half-way the arm located between the shoulder and the elbow: the elbow segment happened to have a circular piece from which a curved fin aiming towards the shoulder emerged: this elbow armor could be divided in four different segments: the first one was a little piece of golden armor in the form of a circle's lower half.

It was continued by a set of three half-circular metallic bands spreading downwards until the start of the wrist.

A screw bolt's head was set half-way between the lower and upper halves of the elbow armor: a black cross was drawn on it (or rather the grooves where a screw driver would be set at) and a straight black line travelled forward from the eastern edge until the wrist.

The last part of the complicated elbow armor included the aforementioned fin.

A small segment of golden armor covered the little space between the elbow and the wrist.

The wrist and part of the hand were encompassed by one featureless metallic black circle from which his usual five fingers (covered in golden "skin") came out.

The body below the chest armor was rather plain: a central vertical stripe which contained the helmet's pattern towards the end as it reached the waist spot: it was painted gray expect on the outer edges where the color switched to purple and ran down the sides of the body including the inner surface of the legs: the outer surface was colored gray too.

His peculiar boots began just at the knee's height

They had a customized design which looked like some attempt at being "futuristic" for some reason or another: their color was gray.

The reason why his boots looked peculiar was because they had a descending triangle-shaped ramp running until the ankles and with three golden buttons set in a vertical manner one atop the other near the end of the piece.

The ankles' armor was built in the manner of three purple trapezes set one over the other: the soil of the boots was also designed to have a trapeze form and painted gray.

There was something which looked a recent addition, though, and that was an emblem on the forehead which was the same depicted in Eisei's own Link PET.

"Oreichalcos Boundary! Engage!"

"And now you summon a Spirit?"

"Correct! Volt! Fierce God which holds the purple-lightning hammer! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out! Volt!"

Purple streaks of lightning fell down and hit Yamato Man yet he didn't seem to mind them.

"My HP clock at 3000 points! Yours at 2950… And each of Volt's attacks was 200, so each is 300… 5 volts: 1500 damage!"

"Hum. A mere stolen spirit won't halt me."

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's go, then! 100, 000 Volts!"

"Hum! Lightning Rod!"

"Crap! This attack has base power of 95 points and the Boundary lifts it up to 142…! And my own electrical attribute allows for a second power-up so it actually inflicts 190 points! Gruah!"

"Hum! Your foul weapons shoot back at you."

"Che. And now he comes with the _Sengoku_ speech, like Shadow Man!"

"Come!"

"Che! Don't laugh at GEMINI SPARK!" He grumbled.

"Another nickname or rip-off?"

"Yikes! I mean… Don't laugh at Gray Thunderbolt!"

"I don't care! Thousand Spear! Each blow is 200 points! 5 serial blows: 1000 HP! Eat these, foul one!"

"Foul! Me! I'm cool! Eat this! Rocket…! Gruah!"

Gray Thunderbolt was about to shoot another attack when Yamato Man quickly thrust his spear to hit him five times in the upper chest and the lower chest: the last blow did make him fall down into the ground and he stood up while grumbling.

"Rocket Knuckle!"

He formed two copies of his knuckles and they shot forward while frizzling with electricity: both impacted on Yamato Man but he didn't mind them to begin with and began to spin his spear to form a circle until he let go of it and it shot forward, spinning: it hit Gray Thunderbolt another 5 times and he groaned.

"Damn it! I've lost over 2100 HP by now and that guy's still got close to 2000 HP left! I'll have to try harder! Inazuma Head X! 390 points per every thunderbolt which rains down…!"

"Hum! Foolish! Reckless. Lightning Rod!"

"Heck! Krua~h!"

"… Hmpf! I see. So that's how it is… The Life Synchro Strategy…"

"Che. I got found out. It was too obvious, I guess. But now that I've lost close to 2500 points I can turn the tide and leave you with less than 500 HP! Hah!"

"You damned fool… A battle isn't settled by numbers!"

"Che! Burai!"

"Yeah. So? Kyutora blessed you?"

"Wha~t? This rascal!"

Burai suddenly showed up outside of the boundary: he was folding his arms and looked unimpressed.

"Hmpf."

"Che! _Aibou_ will deal with you thoroughly later on!"

"Let the guy come anytime."

"Alright, you! Samurai wannabe!"

"Hmpf."

"Synchro Hook X! 270 points of damage! And you synchro your HP!"

"Come."

Gray Thunderbolt attacked Yamato Man but he vanished in a cloud of smoke and left a _katana_ behind before shooting one _shuriken_ at Gray Thunderbolt from behind and returning to his original position.

"Shit! I take another 200 points of damage and my plan fails! But I've got another two ready! Synchro Hook X!"

"Thousand Spear!"

"Gotcha!"

"Hrum."

Yamato Man began to attack but Gray Thunderbolt vanished and left a statue of "Raichu" behind before he dropped a _shuriken_ which hit Yamato Man but he didn't mind it much.

"I still have a lot of energy left."

"Che! I'll have to try harder, then! Flash Spear X! 60 per hit: total is 300 and this will bring you remaining HP to about 1500!"

"How foolish."

"Not again!"

It turned out that Yamato Man had another Kawarimi ready and he countered Gray Thunderbolt's attack.

"Shit! Now or never! Synchro Hook X! I've only lost to Andy and Kage and I don't plan on losing to anyone else!"

"Save for those "Dark Chips" artifacts which you lowlife used a year ago, making you go berserk and needing Golden Star to halt you."

"CHE! Eat this, Yamato Man!"

"Hmpf!"

Yamato Man turned out to have yet a third _Kawarimi_ and it hit Gray Thunderbolt.

"Fuck! Only about 100 HP left! NOW! You've run out of _Kawarimi_! Synchro Hook X! I'll rest and then synchro the damage!"

"Hmpf." Burai grumbled.

"EAT THIS!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"NO! IMPOSSIBLE!"

The attack was nullified by the Dream Aura and Gray Thunderbolt looked furious by now.

"You're asking for it! Super North Wind! Panel Format! Ice Grenade! Elec Plus 30, Thunder! 120 power points! Plus the Elec 30! 150! Boundary bonus: 225! Two times damage because of ice! 550! And my own power-up: 775! EAT THIS!"

The attack did make contact with Yamato Man but his spear just began to glow with a reddish tint: Gray Thunderbolt looked too infuriated to take notice and Yamato Man got into a fighting stance while getting the spear ready to thrust.

"Muramasa Spear!"

"Fuck! Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"Hrum. Desperate."

The Muramasa Spear did get to break the Dream Aura nevertheless and Gray Thunderbolt growled.

"Fuck! I could give Blues trouble first time around!"

"But you lowlife lowered the guard and he brought you down."

"Shaddup, Mu's lapdog! This is MY battle! You stay outta it!"

"Whatever."

"Che! I'm fed up with this! I'll use cheat codes! Recovery 300, Triple Slot In! I regain 900 HP in the blink of an eye! And now… Destroy Upper! 280, but since it's of Breaker type… It'll inflict 560 to you!"

"I don't care. Thousand Spear!"

"Fuck. Destroy Upper!"

Gray Thunderbolt's attack connected and the blow stopped Yamato Man's attack: he snickered and drew a very large axe.

"Yeah! Now your HP points have lowered from 1800 to 1440… And this axe will inflict 640 points… No! 1280! EAT AXE!"

"Mugra~h!"

"Shit."

The brutally powered up axe made a wound on the chest armor and Gray Thunderbolt drew another weapon.

"Break Saber X! 1000 HP! THE END!"

"Mugruka~h! Damn you…!"

Gray Thunderbolt violently swung the weapon to form another two blows to the chest armor: he laughed and cancelled the "Boundary" before quickly warping away as if expecting Burai to strike at him: he growled and tended to Yamato Man.

"These wounds are deep. You'll need to go have them repaired."

"The dishonorable grunt…! If their Prince knew…!"

"Yeah. Somehow, it wouldn't surprise me if Kuroban scolds them. By the way, did you figure out the thief of Dark Mans' data?"

"No…! But Beta X infiltrated the lab and found… kurh… No evidence of any Navi development… Dark Man's idea… gruh… has been discarded."

"Don't force it. Tell me the coordinates and I'll accompany you: Legato can attest that I collaborate with you guys."

"Of course…! I apologize for… the burden… kuh…"

Both warped to the entrance of the base: Beta X saw them coming in and rushed there.

"Yamato Man! What happened?"

"Kruh! That damned runt…!"

"Gray Thunderbolt. The jerk was about to lose and cheated to ensure victory… The lowlife…"

"Dark Man! I need a hand: let's go to the repairs lab! Zero should come have a check too!"

"Roger!"

"I'm going to try to trail those guys. And I'm still concerned about the thief of the data… None of you have any hunches?"

"No. Slur – sama checked out around but found nothing. They could've already gone into the real world and keeping a low profile."

"Alright. I'll try to check out suspicious spots. See you around."

"OK."

Burai left and both Beta X and Dark Man helped Yamato Man lean on them as they headed inwards.

"The rascal…!" Beta X grumbled.

20:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… The codes! How do I get the codes? Speak, you damned brat!"

"Huff. You're bothersome."

"You're supposed to be pleading!"

"After all I've gone through? I'm a tough guy."

"Speak!"

"It's useless. No member knows them. Only that Zero guy must but I'd like to see you trying to wrestle with him."

"Shit! I thought this would be easy!"

"Thought, thought… Done the homework, you have not?"

"What's with that speech?"

"Dunno. Ask your government, whoever they are."

"I'll shoot your legs!"

"Then you're going to the brig for a long time. No – one gets away with shooting a member of the Net Police. Well. An ex-member."

"What? You can't be serious!"

"That's why I told you that you didn't do the homework. Your English is accented. And I know that accent. Eastern Europe."

"The codes! I want the damned codes!"

"To sell them to other governments, huh…?"

"Shaddup!"

"You shouldn't have bothered to drag me here to fuck me, anyway."

"I'll cut off your punk hair!"

"Tell that to Punk."

"What?"

"Not like you'd get the local joke, stranger."

"Wha~t?"

"Go sell AKs-74Us to New Zealand."

"Where is the base?"

"Do the homework, you moron!"

"Shut up! I'll fuck your ass again!"

"No matter how many times you do it nothing will change."

Netto had been stripped of his clothes and he had his arms tied behind his back with two ropes set over his upper body: his legs had ropes on the ankles and the hips too and he had a black blindfold over him: he'd been made to sit on his knees on the ground and his face was touching the ground.

The place was some underground room which was barely lit: save for a flashlight dropped into the ground.

A man who could be about a meter and eighty tall was looming over Netto from behind and they wore a simple black sweater, jeans and boots plus a balaclava.

He was raping Netto while using a wrench to hit his back but Netto didn't seem to mind those.

"You shouldn't have gassed our house and taken me out. Golden Star has known from the instant the gas entered my body. And you can't disable the GPS. Even if this is underground they can know the route you made and even if you used a "DC" then they know how to access them and check their usage." Netto calmly told him.

"The fucking damned codes!"

"Huff. You don't understand English or what? I'm telling you no member knows them save for Zero."

"Where's that Zero!"

"Where else? In the super-computer, he's the admin."

"And where's the machine at!"

"Huff. You really DIDN'T do any homework."

"Shut up!"

"Fine~… It's on the middle of the bay. But it's like a fortress. Trying to get in alone is impossible. Zero's heavily defended. You'd need something like one "HEAT" missile to blow up the corridor doors."

"What! I thought you lowlifes were computer geeks!"

"Huff. DO THE HOMEWORK, MR. OLOF!"

"I'm not named Olof!"

"It's an irony."

"Chut! What's that humming sound? Behind this wall…!"

"Dunno. Guess your doom's descended."

"Shut up!"

A piece of the wall slid open and both Kuroban and a young guy stepped out of a hidden room.

The young guy coming with him didn't seem to be older than fifteen or sixteen years old and past a meter and seventy tall.

His hair had grown in an uncontrolled manner and it now extended to past the base of his neck: it had a natural reddish tone to it and his eyes' irises were blue in color: he looked calm at the moment.

He wore a brownish sweater, jeans, black sneakers and a brownish overcoat.

"You!" The foreigner hissed in Russian.

"… Algov Renof." The teen icily replied.

"An accomplice of that man…?" Kuroban guessed.

"Yes, Prince."

Kuroban easily lifted him by gripping his sweater's neck and violently threw him towards a corner: the young man gasped and rushed over to Netto to begin to undo the ropes.

"Are you alright?" He asked in English.

"You're… "Shunoros"…?"

"Yeah. And you are…?"

"… Hikari Netto. Rock Man's Operator." Kuroban recognized him.

"You're… Prince Kuroban?"

"Yeah… Ernst. Free him. I'll watch over the coward."

"Roger."

Ernst undid the rest of the ropes and took out the blindfold: Netto merely articulated his wrists and rubbed them without looking concerned or nervous at all: he spotted his clothes hastily thrown into a corner and began to change while Kuroban loomed over the man while having draw a custom sword with a golden handle and a pale green blade.

"Huff. This stupid guy gassed my house and dragged me here thinking I knew the codes. He didn't bother to do the homework."

"Homework…? You mean that he didn't bother to investigate."

"Yeah. This guy's a desperado."

"Hmpf. Totally. How the mighty have fallen. This guy had a fortune of millions but we exposed the guy's dirty plays and he was to be processed in Copenhagen out of tax evasion. Guess they ran away and, desperate for money, tried to do this after hearing some rumors and not bothering to check if they were true or not."

"… Hikari – kun! Are you there? Answer us!" Kage's voice rang out from close by.

"We're coming!" Andy's voice also rang out.

Both rushed in and gasped at the scene but Netto signaled them to stop so Kage put the safety into his gun.

"Alright. What happened? Your house was gassed, Hikari – kun, and your big bro was KO."

"That guy thought I knew the codes. A desperado. That's all. The Prince and that guy happened to come in: it'd seem they have a secret storage here, right, Prince?"

"Yeah. We'd come retrieve some spare parts for a Jeep and we heard noise so we came out. This is in Akihara Town, the basement of a house abandoned 7 years ago."

"Ah. The empty house… Nobody seemed to want to rent it: there was some ghost tale about it for some reason or another."

"Huff. At least you're OK."

"Wait. That man… He violated you?"

"Yeah. But I don't care. Not like he intimidated me to begin with…"

"… The Demon…! Come to try again…!" He began to mutter and a foreign accent became noticeable.

"Huh? Prince?" Ernst wondered.

"… Nothing. Call the police. Let's have a truce for today. I've had enough of a bad mood time dealing with Gray's idiotic behavior."

"Alright."

"I'll knock them out to save time."

Kage shot a round from his gun and the man got knocked out.

"Today's a truce. But this will continue… For a while…"

"We know. Let's go, Hikari – kun. The police will handle the rest."

"Good luck…"

"Same thing over there… This has been Round 1… Round 2 is starting…!"


	11. Chapter 11: Tribes

**Chapter 11: Tribes**

13:47 PM (Philippines Time), Tuesday February the 9th…

"… Huff. Well. It'll soon work again."

"Too bad. I'll blow it up."

"Hmpf. I knew you'd show up."

"Yeah… And this time no tricks will help you!"

"That remains to be seen."

"Hmpf. Getting confident?"

"More like getting amused, Link."

"Don't equal me to the guy."

"Why not? You're Mu's Chosen One, after all. Heh, heh, heh."

"That Gray Thunderbolt's been a bad influence."

"Not at all."

Kuroban had been standing in a room somewhere and taking care of a robot parked there.

This room had the shape of tall cylindrical shaft and he currently was standing at the deepest point of it: this shaft extended upwards until it was engulfed by blackness and hidden: eight vertical rows of lights were placed along the walls to illuminate it.

An elevated circle-shaped platform was set starting from the south side and ending in the middle of the opening.

The robot had a central circle-shaped body with a circle-shaped mouth which contained many small indented teeth: the robot's body was painted mainly white with some cobalt bands there and there.

The robot possessed two round shoulders and arms: each arm's end had five claws and had also gained a pale green/turquoise coloring with some white patterns.

The arms also contained two small dome-shaped pale green spots just below the elbow joints.

There was an extension atop the thing containing a golden pupil-less eye made of the same material: an inverted cone had been built beneath the main body to allow it to apparently plunge into some material and get stuck there: many cables were linked to the thing.

The robot possessed a kind of curve where the head should be and a neck-like extension originated from it, having that golden pupil-less golden eye set on its center: two small brown and black-colored cones originated from both sides of the open mouth.

Various wires were linked to several parts of its body and some headed inside of the mouth.

It also had two insect-like wings behind its shoulders.

Some painting had worn off in some spots and some parts were frozen: the howl of wind could be heard coming in.

Kuroban was standing just some centimeters from the gigantic "mouth" and smiling: he'd put on a large purplish cape which reached all the way to the floor from the back of his shoulders.

Burai had suddenly appeared at the start of the five steps so Kuroban grinned and stood up to face him by turning around.

"By the way! They say something cool's about to happen soon enough: guess it'll be Gray's lucky day~…"

"I don't care! Fight me!"

"Fine. Come, Shadow."

"Shadow Man?"

"No, no… I mean Shadow, the "Dark" Spirit… Being come out from the great Obscure Abyss! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out…! Shadow!"

"Che."

A figure formed and surrounded Burai with "obscurity" as Kuroban warped out of the room: Burai warped too and he appeared into a yellowish energy road circling around the peak of the island and forming a cross-road from where eight roads spread: Kuroban was dashing SE.

"Wait!"

"And next time I'll tell Urateido to use Luna and Aska! It'll be ironic!"

"I don't care for that!"

"Kazebun will use the Sylph sisters!"

"Like I care!"

"And what else…? Hum… Guess Umisama will spawn Celsius."

"Che."

"And I'm saving up Origin!"

"I don't give a crap!"

"Heh, heh, heh!"

Burai began to chase Kuroban until they reached another island which had a forest close to a small village: Kuroban dropped there and so did Burai who looked around and spotted a round stone shrine-like building with a simplistic dome: Kuroban ran inside and Burai followed him: the insides were totally empty and overgrown with vegetation.

"Another shrine? You lowlife always need to battle here?"

"Heh! It's fitting."

"Whatever. Flying Knuckles!"

"Aristeros Shield!"

A white shield with the Boundary's symbols engraved along its rim and having the 3-layered-Boundary drawing on it appeared on Howsad's left arm.

"And the Dexia Sword too!"

"Hmpf!"

Burai formed three fists made of purple flames and which flew towards Kuroban but he blocked them with the shield.

"My HP clock at 3500! Yours at 3250… The shield reduces damage by 75% so… Each fist was worth 250… Instead of 750… I only suffer 187."

"Hmpf. So you've improved it."

"Hey. Did you think I spent all this time just going over my frustration or what? I've been improving myself, too."

"Rising Knuckle!"

Burai lifted his right fist and three energy shockwaves travelled across the ground yet they were partly blocked by the Aristeros Shield.

"Well, well. Each was 200… Instead of 600… 150. Heh!"

"Che. I'm fed up with this. Eat Burai Sword!"

"Dexia Sword!"

Both clashed blades and struggled in the deadlock: Burai suddenly stepped back and managed to form a diagonal cut on Kuroban's armor which he didn't mind.

"350? Heh. Not bad. My turn! Dexia Sword! 300!"

"Gruah!"

Kuroban ducked and slashed across Burai's armor: he growled and recoiled while Kuroban calmly returned to his position.

"Heh, heh, heh. 640 for me, 300 for you… But since I'm reducing damage by 75%... Save for that sword blow… Meh."

"Che. I'm not getting anywhere at this rate! Burai Break!"

Burai warped and performed an uppercut which Kuroban mostly blocked while chuckling.

"My, my. That was worth 400 HP… But I only get 100…"

"Heck. I'm running out of patience!"

"No wonder. I'm still pretty fresh… Lightning! Descend!"

"What! Krua~h!"

A bolt of lightning fell down and hit Burai who didn't see it coming: he growled and he stood up again.

"Shit. That thing delivers 350 HP of damage! 650 for me…"

"And 740 for me… We're close, eh?"

"And that shield isn't broken by my Breaker attacks either. Che."

"I'm too smart for that. Blame Mr. Smart."

"Impact Cannon! 240 points!"

"Reduced to 60… I've gone over the 700 HP points of damage…"

The blast did hit the shield but Kuroban shrugged while Burai recoiled from the firing.

"Big Grenade! 180!"

"Fine. I'll take it in. Hah! It tickles. 920…"

Kuroban let the Big Grenade hit him and explode 3 times in a row but merely chuckled.

"Damn. Your sword can act as a Muramasa Blade too!"

"Yessir. Starting to catch up, Mr. Bold?"

"Grrr… Don't laugh at me! Mu Rejection."

"Heh! It came out."

Burai formed a round blue ghostly shield with runes circling the edge in a clockwise manner.

"Alright. My turn! Mad Vulcan X!"

All rounds bounced off the shield and did no effect so Burai frowned.

"Why waste that? Wait. You can add a Card's power to the sword?"

"Maybe."

"Che."

"Too late! Dexia Vengeance!"

"What!"

The sword glowed and Kuroban made it hit the floor: a column of reddish energy shot skywards and hit Burai several times from his feet: he groaned and collapsed.

"Shit. I eat 940 HP to my 700 and I've lost about 1650 points by now…! But there's still a long way left."

"I know. Until Mr. Bold remembers he's late for his date with Ms. Beautiful in the Camps Elyseés…"

"GRKXNTK!" He growled.

"Gotcha. Destroy Missile!"

"Not that again! Ugrura~h!"

Several gigantic missiles began to rain down around Burai and he could barely shield from the serial explosions: Kuroban delivered a blow with his sword next and chuckled.

"Total damage: 900! 2550 points lost… Only 700 left!"

"Thousand Kick!"

"What! Hugru~h!"

Burai began to deliver a series of fast chained kicks and Kuroban howled as he recoiled.

"Shit. I couldn't reduce this one so I suffered 480 points… I had 940 so it sums up to 1420…! Bah! It isn't 50%, even. We can still fight for a while without tiring." Kuroban shrugged it off.

"Edogiri Blade X!"

"Gurh! I lowered the guard…! 200… 1620… Hah! Not yet!"

"Che. Hard to chew… I need more strength… Stun Knuckle!"

"It's just 130 so I'll be receiving that blow. And whatever comes next: I can shoot it at you, anyway."

Kuroban let Burai hit him in purpose but then Burai snickered and Kuroban seemed to frown under the shades.

"Platinum Meteor! It'd normally fall into a random pattern within 9 squares of terrain… Now they'll ALL fall into you with a base power of 90 points!"

"No way! Mugru~rah!"

"Starting to regret your strategy~?"

"Shit! This punk!"

"That's my motto."

"Wha~t?"

All meteors fell down on Kuroban and his sword's glow became another tint of red like fresh blood.

"810! I 2580 HP lost out of 3500…! 74%...! Grah! So you like to edit things too, EH?"

"Hmpf. I'm Editor Burai."

"No more fooling around! Eat back these 810 points and be gone!"

"Mu Rejection!"

"Shit."

The attack bounced off the Mu Rejection and hit some of the trees and grass without affecting them: they both began to hear muttering close by and someone banging on the door.

"Che. Guess there's been some noise or light which was emitted and the cattle have begun to gather."

"Hmpf. Whatever. Come! "Dimensional Converter"! Seal the insides of this building! "Dimensional Area"!"

A "Dimensional Area" formed inside of the building and turned thick as if to impede anyone who managed to open the doors to see what was going on inside.

"Break Count Bomb!" Burai announced.

"Hell! Aristeros Shield!"

"Burai Break!"

"Grah! That uppercut! I blocked and only got 100…! 2950…!"

"Here it goes!"

The gigantic bomb which Burai had placed on the field went off and an explosion shook the building: Kuroban had managed to shield so he nullified most of the damage.

"Only 150…! What a monster! 3100…! I've got 400 HP left and this guy's got about 700…!"

"Hmpf!"

"Che. Sky, land, people…! Great will that holds the origin of all lives! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out…! Origin!"

A triangle of energy formed in the ground and shot electrical bursts at Burai while Kuroban's sword and shield began to glow with a white pulsation.

"Origin increased my attack and defense by 25%! My Aristeros Shield will now nullify all attacks! And these 3 attacks by Origin were worth 150 each so… You've lost 450! Only 250 left! Another reversal! Isn't it?"

"Che. But I was saving up something."

"What?"

"An ace-in-the-hole… I'd planned to use it before but I see it fitting to use it now… Hmpf…"

"What?"

"Darkness Hole! All "Boss" class foes will be defeated if their HP falls below 500! The end!"

"What! Impossible!"

A purplish "hole" with an evil "face" drawn on it formed and sucked up energy from both of them: they collapsed into their knees and panted while there was the sound of someone ramming against the doors.

"Che… A draw… Whatever! I'm off. I've got work to do."

"Hmpf… Now I've proven that I always have an ace to reverse the tables!"

"Whatever the frigging ever. I'm off to hearing to M&F. See ya~…"

"Hmpf… I'll go submit this data to Golden Star… It could be useful to them."

Both warped out and the "Dimensional Area" got cancelled: they reappeared in different roads and headed in different directions each: Kuroban smirked and rushed back to the base: he landed back inside of the shaft and then heard an elevator ping.

"Hmmm?"

"Ah! Prince. We were concerned, sir. Transmissions wouldn't connect."

"My bad, Umisama… I was busy dealing with that Burai jerk…"

"And…?"

"A draw… But it's another level of battle altogether because I didn't use my three-layered Boundary… The guy can shatter it, anyway."

Umisama, the newcomer struck as being around the same height as Eisei.

His hair had been dyed blue although there was a trace of brown hair underneath it while his eyes' irises were blue in coloring.

He sported a navy blue sweater plus a pair of jeans and fisherman's boots colored with white stripes.

"I see, sir."

"I'm going to work on this for a little while and then go back to the Kyutora Base."

"Roger. By the way… We detected hacking in this base's computers and all data regarding "Dimensional Converters" got stolen…"

"What?"

"Identity: unknown… The sensors were down and we couldn't pick anything about them. At all…"

"Heck."

"And we believe it's the same Navi that hacked materialization data out of Dark Man a few days ago… Yet Golden Star seem to be clueless about who they were." He reported next.

"How odd."

"Truly, sir."

"Hum. Well. You guys can do as you like but remember to not go over the edge either."

"Roger, sir. I'll keep on with the investigation on this hacker."

"Do it."

Umisama headed back into an elevator built in the NW corner while Kuroban rubbed his chin.

"How odd. Who would do that? I'm sure most hostile forces out there don't seriously think about Navi materialization yet. They gotta think that's sci-fi… In that case… Who'd desire to use both "DCs" and materialization factors…? Odd, by the High One…"

He shrugged and kept on hitting the patches of ice to shatter them yet he seemed troubled by the news.

_Bah. Let's just focus on getting this dude to fly again. Then we'll focus on that hacker guy…!_

17:50 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Phew. Homework's over… Let's listen to the broadcast…"

Leon (wearing his middle school uniform) finished his homework inside of his room aboard _Purgatory_.

This room had two beds set parallel to each other, a small desk between them, a larger desk and chairs set to door's right and a cubicle containing the bathroom: the north wall also had a porthole covered by a curtain.

The desk had a laptop computer atop it which he was using to work.

"Welcome~! V! B! N! Today's new album! "The T. I. A. goes and gets up-to-date!"… Start! "Mortadelo! Filemón! Are you doing anything?" … "Yes, I'm testing the leaf spring elasticity!" …"The car's?" … "Wrong! The armory stuff! It's the most modern weapon we've got!" … "I see… And Mr. Filemón?" … "Well! There, in the front! Whom did you think was holding the leaf spring's arms? The esparto rope rotted away and…" … "Well. We are _somewhat_ old-fashioned…" … "Old-fashioned, ya say~? Not at all! We've discarded the tablets! Now we write over papyrus!"…"

"And he calls that "modern"?" Leon rolled his eyes.

"… "There are phones which are old-model ones…" … "Well. What matters is that they work and…" … "They don't! They're just imitations for visitor appeal." … They're hollow and have an alarm clock inside!"

"How devious."

"… "In all offices they have modern super-electronic writing machines, you see… And we still have the steam model ones!" … TUF, TUF, TUF! TUGDUF! PCHSSS! PFIUI~H! TLACATLAC! TLAC! TLOC! TLAC! BANG! "The boiler! It blew up again! I'm so gonna go write Hieroglyphs into Cheops' Pyramid!" … "Heh! And let's not talk about computers. All companies have a button which you press to access the database… And here… We do have the button…"… TRI~NG! "But that's because Regúlez, the data bank clerk is deafer than a shoe!" … "Hi, Mr. Super! Did you ring the bell or was that a passerby mosquito? By the way, we got them… The data of Moscoso, the "Pito"…"…"

"A criminal…?"

"… "7 years in Sing-Sing, 14 in Alcatraz, 11 in the Saint Acisclus' Aciscalan Convent… Devil! They mixed the data of Friary Acuoso Bendito with those of Julai Moscoso, the "Pito"…!" … "What a dilemma! What a dilemma!"…"

"I can understand that frustration, yeah."

"… "It gets worse when it comes to transportation… Any organization has armored cars, caterpillar trucks, they own planes… We've only got the JET!" … "A jet? We've got a je~t? Where~?"… "Where else, man? In the stables! The Jumento Schizophrenic and Defective!"… Original: Jumento Esquizofrénico y Tarado! Hence JET!"

"Man. They really need to get up to date."

"… "And when it comes to political matters…! Other institutions have direct contact methods with higher echelons of the Government… They know in all moments the international happenings which may affect them… And we have to satisfy ourselves with Melecio, brother-in-law of the replacement Parliament gate-keeper!" … "Hey! My bro-in-law told me the Minister fellow's got the hives 'n…" …"But this ends now! We'll get rid of all old and useless stuff!" … "I'm sorry, Boss… We've been together for so long… Well! Good luck wherever you end at! Well! Let the hives show up on the rear part of the eye! What a jerk! I wish him good luck…!"…"

"Jeez. Mortadelo is never grateful to his Boss, eh?"

"… "Enough fooling! I mean that the "T. I. A." is going to become a year 2000 agency! To accomplish that you'll test some new artifacts which Professor Bacterio gathered during a world tour, improved and adapted for our use!" … "HIM! HIM!"… "Well, yes, that's me. You're glad to see me, eh, boys?"… "… Will you stop acting the imbecile and return to the office? And stop the comedy! You were it was a dead track!"…"

"What? They wanted to pick a train to escape?"

"More like they wanted the train to run them over, I think…"

"Jeez. They really prefer that to the Professor's gizmos?"

"… "As I was saying: Professor Bacterior readied some inventions."… "And this is the most spectacular of them! A thought materialize! You need to aim it to someone, launch the wave and their thoughts will materialize! See, see!" … "Devil! The…!" … "AH! AH! A~RGH!" … "Why! It looks like it does work!"… Bacterio became a donkey!"

"Huff. Mortadelo… What was he thinking of?"

"… "Grtjxh! Thinking I was a… a…! Take stupidity! Eat this! EAT THIS!" … "Everyone is something! Go shave! I've never seen a bearded donkey before!" … CLOC! CLOC! CLOC! RAS! RAS! RA~S! "Come, Professor, stop kicking Mortadelo's head! And you, Mortadelo, stop depilating the Professor by biting!" … "Did you see the gizmo, Boss? You only need to do this and…!" .. "RARGÑ! OINK!"… "GULP!" … Why! What were you thinking of, Boss?" … "Miserable! Thinking that I am a mere pig…! Take crushing legs! Take this!" … "Ouch! I'm gonna teach ya to aim that to your nose! ARGN!" … "UAH! What a brute you are, Boss! My leg's ended up so bad I could become a pirate!" … "You need to have higher, purer, constructive and fraternal thoughts! Let's test again…!" … "You unthankful and vile man! So you were thinking that I'd be better…?" … "And you what, huh? And you what? Brain-killer!" … "Higher, purer, constructive, fraternal thoughts… I give up!" … Note! They were wishing each one would be gone from this world!"

"Huff. It's a miracle they still work together despite that."

"… "Ah! Mr. General Inspector. What an honor. We were in the middle of testing a thought materializing device that…" … "A~G! Magnificent, moustache trash! Now I know whom I'm dealing with!" … "B-but, I didn't, I…!" … Mortadelo aimed it at Mr. Super and the General Inspector became a frog!"

"Really…"

"… "Calm down, Mr. Inspector! The effects are temporary!"… "No! I want to devour this damned insect first! ARGN!" … "That bald disgrace is to blame! I'm gonna see your thoughts by blowing up the cover!" … "Get lost, fella! Who told you to think of those things?" … END! Of chapter 1!"

"Huff. The craziest agency in the world, really…"

His PET beeped and he rolled his eyes: he replied to the call and found that Sieg was on-screen: he'd taken out his sunglasses to reveal red irises which showed amusement.

"Yo! Ani-ue-sama. What'd ya think of today's broadcast of thoughts and hate and passion?"

"Huff. Dunno. Ask Eisei."

"I asked already: I'm two steps ahead of ya~…"

"No wonder. You stole Ruby's sneakers."

"Ruby? Ah! The guy from Gen III, yeah. They saw we'll have news of Gen V this next week, see~!"

"Hum. We'll see."

"See and not see!"

"How devious of you, Sieg."

"Wasn't that obvious, ani-ue-sama~? Did ya save Redfield's lil sis?"

"Huff. Don't mix me in with those _Biohazard_ games."

"Heh, heh, heh! Let's rumble and shake! Did Keitai Denwa teach ya to kick like Chris?"

"I don't need to learn that. Go learn that yourself."

"Heh, heh, heh. Ya always have a Counter Trap Card ready~!"

"Huff. I do. Now get lost in Panama. Play pirate." Leon was obviously trying to shake him off somehow.

"Why not! There needs to be a new gang! Pirate Gang! Anime-only!"

"Sure, sure. Go suggest that to the directors."

"And we'll bring Mr. Universe to direct and command them!"

"I know. Go and leave me alone ALREADY or I'll get ANNOYED."

"OK, Ani-Ue-Sama~… Ya win this round but next… Heh, heh, heh!"

"Huff. At last."

He sighed in relief and left the PET atop the desk again.

"Heh, heh, heh. Bye and hi~…" A voice rang out through the speakers.

"Needle Man – san…!" Leon got a twitch over the right eye.

"Needle Man! Broadcast time's over: stop joking!" Freeze Man fumed.

"Huff. Shah, shah, shah! Alright, _Danna_… Don't get annoyed!"

"At last! Some peace and silence…!"

He began to browse using the computer and hummed a tune as he read up some page.

"Hmmm… We're still missing 3 PKMN from the Isshu Encyclopedia, the 3 last… Guess they'll be eventually revealed… Maybe this same year for the movie… Huh? Internal mail… Not Tozukana – san again… "I don't need to find any girlfriend, Tozukana – san! Please go complete with Qong – san in the simulator!" … Really! Guess I'll have to speak with _Noir_ – san."

"Yo~! Leonel! Wanna see some stuff?" Tozukana's voice rang out.

"The outer interphone…!" He grumbled.

He headed over to it and pressed the reply button.

"I do not need to! I shall complain to Ms. Secretary!"

"YIKES!"

"Told cha…" Lily sighed in the background.

"C-cha! Stay quiet!"

"Alright. But then don't say I didn't warn you, Joanne – chan."

The interphone got shut down and Leon finally sighed in relief.

_It's a wonder you don't go mad from living in this mad place! And I've only been here ever since the summer… Oh boy! Knock some sense here! Huff!_


	12. Chapter 12: Bushido Comeback

**Chapter 12: Bushido Comeback**

11:05 AM (Japan Time), Monday February the 15th…

"… This month… They say that big news will come soon enough this month, Saito – niisan… Aren't ya excited?"

"Heh. Gotta admit it… And we got confirmed a new PKMN: Keldeo! It will show up on this year's movie, too."

"So we're pending another 2… Man! They love to tease us! We know there's one described as "ultimate PKMN" in the P2 Lab where a Plasma Gang guy left a memo that says…"

"…that Emperor Ooyama is the girls' hero!"

"That Dethroned Wannabe Emperor Ooyama needs to land back on the ground…"

"Oi! Saito! That wasn't funny!"

"It wasn't intended to be a joke."

Netto and Saito had been chatting while sitting in one of the school yard's benches when Dekao jumped in, playing the cool guy: Saito drily countered with sarcasm and Dekao got annoyed.

"By the way! 1959th time."

"E~H?"

"Dekao. You don't learn? What's the speed of sound?"

"Speed of sound…? 120 km/h…?"

"Wrong. That's the max speed in highways. Try again."

"Huff. Dunno!"

"340 meters per second. Was it that hard?"

"Well…"

"Guess it was." Saito wasn't surprised.

"Hah! I knew it! Use the BRAINS! Fatman!"

"Cha have them for some reason!"

Meiru and Yaito showed up too and began to snap at Dekao who gasped: Hikawa walked in and sat next to Netto while sighing.

"Why is this city so weird?" He sighed.

"Dunno." Saito shrugged.

"Ironies of life, I guess." Netto guessed.

"Guts, guts! Guts Man will beat Shun's Ross!" Guts Man proclaimed.

"Shunoros! Rot Shun's Ross!" Roll scolded.

"Please! Let us be civilized!" Glyde pleaded.

"Huff. Desu." Ice Man sighed.

"Well. Let's patiently wait for the news."

"What news?"

"The news that cha hair becomes outdated!" Yaito laughed.

"Hmpf!" Meiru made a smug smile.

"Wha~h!"

He ran off like he was gonna be slaughtered alive there and both girls giggled while the guys rolled their eyes.

"By the way! Netto! Cha Kansai cousin dropped by~?"

"I don't have a Kansai cousin, Yaito. You know that."

"I don't know if Ms. Knowledge doesn't knock at my tree-house's door!"

"Huff. I think you exaggerate it too much, Yaito – chan." Even Meiru seemed to think she'd overdone it.

"Don't worry, Meiru – chan! I've got everything under control!"

"I hope so." She sighed in defeat.

"I know Leon – kun's good buddies with Chisao – kun…"

"We knew that." Meiru sighed.

"And that Mr. X will date Ms. Y!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." The four of them muttered.

"The Skeptical Club came~?"

"Yeah. It came."

"Tee, heh, heh! _Good luck_."

She walked away and even Meiru seemed to find her behavior to be out of place today.

"By the way. Don't forget the White Day chocolate, Netto."

"Of course not. Have I ever forgotten it?"

"Ah. True. Well then. See ya."

Meiru left them while forming a smug grin: the guys sighed and stood up while stretching.

"Well. We should be heading back to the classroom."

"OK. Let's move."

"The second half of the day looms ahead of us…"

The trio headed back to the classroom and got into their posts while taking out their course-books and their notebooks.

"I'll beat _Hey Lo_!" Dekao ran in and grinned.

"_HALO!_ H-A-L-O!" The guys snapped back.

"Wha~h!" He began to cry.

"Huff. Look it up on Google!" Netto fumed.

"Use the head!" Hikawa grumbled.

"JEEZ!" Saito complained.

13:29 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff. I recovered neatly enough from the other day and let's hope I don't have to face that runt anymore."

"Then face me~… Sylph's user's come!"

"Hum. Fighting Cyclone, huh."

"Yessir."

Yamato Man headed into patrolling and a familiar voice rang out so he readied his spear as Fighting Cyclone dropped there and drew his Oreichalcos Boundary Battle Card.

"Engage!"

"Hum! Come!"

The "Boundary" formed there and Fighting Cyclone began to glow with a greenish "aura" as he prepared.

"Sky servant that wanders the 3 Worlds! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out…! Sylph!"

Three fairies formed there: one of them swung a sword she held upwards to create a cyclone, the second fired off some arrows and the third tackled Yamato Man with her shield.

"Total damage: 150 per attack… With the power-up… 225 per attack! A total of 775 points! Out of 2950! Mine clock at… 2450. Yeah. "

"Hum. Mere numbers don't mean anything! Thousand Spear!"

"Heh! Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"Hum! So my attacks are all nullified and you don't suffer the 1000 HP I would deliver. Whatever."

"So? Did _bushido_ – sama inspire ya~?"

"Take back those foul words!"

"Hah! You got ripped off a _samurai_ movie~…"

"Che. Get lost."

"Not yet! Cutting Wind!"

He formed two purplish discs with jagged edges and which had a central purple dot on the center which glowed: he shot them at Yamato Man and they got stuck on his armor before detonating.

"Their base power is 200: so each will inflict 300… And a total of 600! 1375 already!"

"Hrum. Panel Format! Super North Wind!"

"Che!"

"Thousand Spear!"

"Ugh! Grah! Kuh! Ack! Nyagh! 1000 HP…! Shit!"

"Hum. How the tables have turned?"

"This guy…! I'll make you regret that yet!"

"Don't boast. Prove it!"

"Windy Attack X! 270… Plus a "Wind" bonus of 25%... 315! Eat this!"

Fighting Cyclone formed a racket and warped to hit Yamato Man and produce a white circle of winds which pushed him back.

"Muramasa Blade!"

"Uak! Damn it. I get another 500 and you're at about 1700… There isn't much of a difference but you've got about 500 HP more than I do so I gotta be careful there…!"

"Not so confident anymore, runt?"

"Hurricane Dance! 75% bonus! 105 per hit! 4 hits! 420!"

"Defending Spear!"

"What!"

Yamato Man began to make his spear circle and blocked off the attack.

"Shit. He's improved."

"A warrior is always improving!"

"Che! Jet Attack X! Wind AND Breaker! 315! And double because you're weak to Breaker! 630! Let's go~!"

"Devil."

He formed a crow-like Virus colored in bluish tints and dashed forward, hitting Yamato Man and shattering his defense: Fighting Cyclone laughed and flipped back at the start spot.

"Over 2300 by now! Another little bit and…!"

"Muramasa Spear!"

"Uack! You had another way to return damage! I'm at 2000 and I've got about 450 left… He still has a lot of HP left…! Heck!"

"Thousand Spear!"

"Kawarimi! 200!"

"Hrum! Desperate move, I see…"

Fighting Cyclone managed to use the Kawarimi to shoot one _shuriken_ at Yamato Man but he didn't mind it.

"Kogarashi X! 70! Six hits! 420 HP less for you~! Go~!"

"Hah! Ojiouzan!"

"Crap! Grua~h! Another 200 for me…! Only 250 left…!"

Yamato Man formed the statuette and the punishing bolt of lightning fell down: it hit him and he growled.

"Che! Death Scythe X! 105 per 3 hits… 315! Eat this!"

"Shirahadori!"

"No way! Grah! Another 200…! Only 50 left…! And this guy's got about 650 HP left…! He overcomes me too much…! This is BAD!"

"Starting to realize your own foolishness?"

"I would rather say so."

"Ah. Slur – sama."

"Wha! That's Slur…? What… pressure!"

Slur suddenly showed up floating high in the "sky" over them before she descended and hovered about 50cm over the dome: she looked rather amused today and Fighting Cyclone gasped while Yamato Man made a courteous bow.

"Continue."

"Delighted, my lady! Spear Lightning! 150!"

"What! Ugra~h!"

The spear formed a bolt of white lightning which caught Fighting Cyclone with the pants down and struck him: he groaned and collapsed on the floor while the "Boundary" vanished: Slur descended and loomed over him while looking amused.

"So. The scandal at that shrine a few days ago… That was Kuroban."

"Fuck! Yeah…! He'd gone to settle the score with that Burai jerk…! But they ended up in a draw…!"

"He told us as much."

"Smug jerk…! Grah! I'm off! Don't think this the end, though!"

Fighting Cyclone vanished and Slur shrugged: she suddenly got annoyed and Yamato Man apparently noticed something too.

"… The greater sinner…! They dared to come back…! Show your face instead of hiding like a mouse…! Colonel…!"

"This time… I won't lose!"

Colonel dropped from above while aiming his sword at Slur: she fumed and merely snapped her right hand's fingers.

"Come! Punishment!"

Some yellowish dots formed on Colonel's body and some wires with a metallic thin cylinder at their popped out to begin spreading through the surface of his body and immobilizing him: Colonel growled and collapsed while Slur turned around.

"Let us return, Yamato Man!"

"Roger."

Both warped out while Colonel growled: Shadow Man appeared there and cut the ropes with a Flame Sword: Colonel stood up.

"I did well on telling you to stay close by."

"Colonel… That woman pulverized you last time around… Why try again if you know you can't win?"

"Che. I wanted to avenge that failure."

"Aren't you guys the ones saying that the Army isn't there to avenge petty feuds?" Shadow Man sighed.

"Hmpf! That's to keep the recruits in line. I'm different. Barrel authorized me, anyway. He's fed up with all other agencies having the data and we don't have access to it!"

"Huff. No wonder. Seeing how you used Rock Man as bait and held him hostage for all intents and purposes…"

"That wasn't holding him hostage! Tomahawk Man brought him!"

"Then why immobilize him?"

"Che."

"Couldn't you have used something else?"

"Like what? Enlighten me!"

"A rumor about a weapon to defeat the "Darkloids"… Some reports about half-successful experiments, budget data, staff…"

"And make it look like some guy desperate for money leaked it to get that money… It could've worked…" Barrel admitted over the radio.

"Che. We were too obfuscated by Serenade's demise."

"I know that but aren't you supposed to think coolly and rationally in times of stress?"

"Che. Guess I should've. But there's no use to crying over spilled milk!"

"I knew that. I'm simply pointing out that that woman has a reason to mistrust you guys."

"Huff. Let's go back, Barrel. I'm pretty much annoyed."

"Yeah… No wonder. Let's go."

"Beware of that hacker guy… They could come for you for all we know."

"Hmpf. Then we'll lure them in and figure out their true colors."

Colonel warped while Shadow Man sighed and began to climb up the levels: he suddenly saw a blurry blackish figure shooting towards the west some levels higher up but was soon out of sight.

"What was that? Speaking of the hacker, was that them?"

He began to try to follow and reached the remains of Pharaoh Man's pyramid: he spotted that someone had arranged some bricks to form a small tent-like cavity.

"I see. They could've hidden here and camp here… Let's check."

He checked the insides but found nothing save a brick which had the word POWER written in Capital letters on it and by a pretty shaky hand which looked like it belonged to a physically weak owner.

"These marks have some days already… Maybe it's a loner who got beaten up by some bullies or got into a brawl… They lost, made their way here, and wrote that as if vowing to gain further power… Odd. So the stealing of Dark Man's data was to gain power or…? Or is this a red herring?"

_This is turning pretty murky…!_

12:57 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… Kazebun. So?"

"Fuck! The guy had improved a lot and caught me with the guard down by using some new techniques… He obviously wouldn't accept a second defeat in a row, Netsuhonoo…!"

"Huff. That's troublesome, yeah."

Two guys met in the beach in front of the island base.

One of them, the guy named Netsuhonoo, was on his late teens (maybe 18 or 19 years old) and was currently rubbing his back.

His height appealed to be around the 175cm mark and his body had an athletic look to it.

His hair had been dyed fire red and his eyes' irises were brown: he currently looked surprised as reflected on his smooth face.

His choice of clothes were a bluish jacket with reddish parches there and there over a black sweater with the drawing of a crimson or scarlet – colored flame on its center surrounded by spiraling smoke trails: his jeans were plain and normal and his socks were simple black wool ones: his sneakers' color was white.

"You needn't tell me!"

Kazebun looked like he was close to seventeen years old and he had eyes with brown irises: his hair had been tinted purple and his face was smooth and had a "good" profile to it.

He sported a purplish sweater with the drawing of a green tornado and the words "BLOWING TORNADO" his jeans were plain yet coupled with a black belt decorated with the "_taifuu_" or "cyclone" _kanji_ colored in a green fluorescent color.

His sneakers were colored purple and green as well.

His PET was colored green and purple and had Fighting Cyclone's emblem set there.

"Anyway! What did you think of that Keldeo guy?"

"Looks simple but it's gotta have some exclusive moves."

"Rumors are jumping out by now: they say in about 10 days from now there'll be an important reveal…!"

"Wow. So we'll finally get to see _Gray_, eh?"

"Who knows?"

"What about Eisei?"

Ernst came out of the building and looked slightly intrigued.

"Ah. No. We meant the new _Pocket Monsters_ game to be announced: all points to it being named _Gray_… But there could be twist!" Netsuhonoo clarified with a grin.

"Hmpf. Alright. I'm off to dealing with my stuff. See you."

He returned inside and the other two shrugged as they looked out at the sea close to them.

"By the way! Can you synch to the latest broadcast?"

"Sure."

"… "Mortadelo! Filemón! Professor Bacterio is here and wants you test another device which…! Devil! Mortadelo! Filemón! Where'd you go off to?" … "Allow me, Mr. Super? I brought a something from Australia… Here: search, search!" … Bacterio takes out a remote-like body device with a hole from which a small iron ball with an antenna comes out… "Aha! Looks like it works…!" TOC! TOC! TOC! TOC! TOC! TOC! It begins to hit a curious lamp! "It does work, yes!" … TOC! TOC! TOC! TOC! TOC! TOC! "GL, GL, GL!" … It now hit something inside an open drawer! "It's a lamb detector, you know? If they get lost in the foest… Mr. Super! Tell them to leave me alone! Tell them!" … M was about to hit his head with a hammer as vengeance! "Alright! I want you to pay attention to the Prof!" … "It's about these gizmos!"…"

"What a start!" Kazebun laughed.

"Sure."

"… "When pressing the button you split the solid molecules, they become impalpable for a few seconds… And… See? You can go through them!" … "Whoa! Dude! That's so cool! Let us test it out too!" … "Yes. Here you have another." … "I split the button, split the molecules and…!" CLONC! "Oh! True! How silly. I forgot to put the battery." ... "GL, GL, GL!" … Grtjtxf! Take battery! Take it!" … Note! Pila can mean both battery and sink so F threw a sink yet the Prof ducked! "A miss, Boss! But you'll see!" … "Hold back, by the Devil! Let's be civilized!" BOOM! "Very civilized, yessirr!" … "You went through the wall sans any need of you gizmos!" … "Enough fooling! You're gonna arrest Servando "Piojo"! Use the gizmos to sneak into his Raf Street hideout and prove he's trafficking drugs! Go!" … "Hum! I dunno… I'll test again, just in case!" …"

"Heh, heh, heh!" Both chuckled.

"… "Devil! What a repulsive spider! I'm going to shoot a caliber 38 round to this thing!" … "Ah! This time it did…!" … BANG! "Boss! What did you do? Didn't you have enough with two holes in the nose? You need to blow out so much?" … "Leave me alone! Shut up!" … "Well, dude. I dunno what happened. Filemón: he suddenly came from within the wall, he grabbed the revolved and…!" …"

"Stuffed it on his mouth, yeah…" Netsuhonoo laughed.

"Guess that." Umisama joined them.

"… "Alright! Let's go to the "Piojo" turf!" … "Careful, Boss! A car!" … "Bah! I turn it immaterial in the blink of an eye! See? Heh! As if it was a cloud!" … "Well, Boss, but what about the… mobile home? Didn't you see it had a…?" … "Shut up and get me outta here, fool!" … "GRTJX! Didn't you have another way?" … "Well, Boss. I thought the cork-lifter wouldn't do." … He used explosives to blow him outta the hole!"

"How crazy." Kazebun smirked.

"Totally!" Netsuhonoo laughed.

"Huff." Umisama sighed.

"… "Look! The "Piojo" is hiding in this building!"… "Let's have a look!"… "Crazy Ameroupe Buffalo"… "MOU~MPF!" PTAF! PRONCH! "… "Well, Boss! You've got weird manias. Why don't you come out through the wall?" … "GRMBLF! That wasn't the hideout wall! It's the buffalo's!" … "Well, man! Don't be so annoyed! They're all bug bugs! There's no doubt: this is the Fossil Raf Street and that's the wall! And see that van: I'm sure it has the "porros"!" … "Hum! I'll check it out! Let's see… EH?" … "Whoff!" OW! O~W! OW! ARGN! GRÑACK! WHOFF! GRRR! CRAC! "It has the "porros"…! It has the DOGS! It's the doghouse's van, you moron!" … Note: perros and porros are similar. "Why! Boss! What moods! You get annoyed at nothing!" …"

"Huff. Mortadelo's intuition is horrible."

"… "OK! Let's cross the garden and go up… The guy lives in the 10th floor's 4th department! I've got a plan, Boss! We get into the 3rd apartment, we get through the adjacent wall and catch him!" …"Good! 10th floor 3rd apartment: here we go!" … "Well! My Apache instinct is good. This is the wall, Boss!" … "Here I go! Hum! Is there anyone…?" … "Yeah! A unique piece… Defeated with one blow! Go, go! Get into the waiting room and you'll see the dissected head!" … "A~H! Yes, Mr. Policeman! He killed a man! And had the head dissected!" … "I'm telling you he's gone mad, Mr. Policeman! He's got no healing!" … "Silence! You'll explain it to Mr. Commissioner!"…"

"Huff."

"Heh, heh, heh!"

"… "That wasn't the wall! There was a guy yelling!" … "Well then! There's no mistaking it, Boss! This is it!" … "Well! But it better be, eh? I'm starting to feel burnt out! A~H!"… "What happened with the chimney? I heard a horrible yell and a lot of smoke and cinder came out…" … "This is it, this is it…! GRFTXJ! I told you I was starting to feel burnt out! And I'm now roasted to a crisp!" … "Why! Boss! You get annoyed at almost everything, see! Go shower in Niagara! This wall is it, Boss! I made my calculations, asked the Oracle…" … "Well then! We both go! Let's go~! AH!" … "AH!"… A~H! CRONCH!..."

"Huff. It was the outer wall and they fell 10 FLOORS?"

"Bravo!" Both clapped.

"I'm off this mad place."

"… "I made my calculations, I asked the Oracle… GRBLMFJ! Eat wall! Eat this! EAT THIS!" … "Don't be a brute, Boss! Leave that manhole alone~! OW! O~W!" … A passerby dog looking into the crater… "What fright! What slaughter! I can't look!" … "You're back! How'd you do it? I forgot to tell you the "Piojo" is no longer hiding on the Fossil Raf hideout but in… Why are you wrapped in so many bandages?"… "A~H! Are you mad or what? Get us outta this!"… "Stop this thing or I'll sack you~!" … "Come on, come on! That's another science experiment thing! You'll see how you get through the wall without any device to split the molecules things!" …"GET READY~!"… They tied them to a pair of chairs attached to a wheeled platform heading for a thick brick wall!"… END!"

"Heh, heh, heh. They forgot to check one of the 3 walls."

"Sure they did."

"By the way: what do you think of the hacker tale?"

"It could be Choina for all we know."

"Yeah… But it sounds like it could be a loner too… Umisama found that improvised hut thing, anyway."

"Or it could be a red herring too… Hard to say at this stage…!"

"Sure… Let's be careful to check our surroundings when travelling in "Denpa – Henkan" form back to Panama…"

"Yeah… Well. I'll go on ahead. Meet ya there~…"

Kazebun headed on ahead and Netsuhonoo whistled a tune as he picked a loose branch and wrote his name in _katakana_ in the sand before wiping it with the sneaker's soil.

"OK. Let's go back. Things are about to get amusing, I'd rather say. Shunoros can't be looked down upon! Heh, heh, heh!"

16:50 PM (Japan Time)…

"… By the way… Oscar."

"Yes, Mr. Daikani?"

"Are there any news on the hacker? I'm concerned."

"Everyone is, sir. But we're clueless save for the hut thing which could be an elaborated deceit, even, sir…"

Atarasei was talking with a man while standing on the deck of _Purgatory_: he looked concerned and the man also did.

He looked on his late fifties, had blackish hair and also had brownish eye irises.

He wore a black tie, a brownish suit and pants plus shoes.

"Hum. I see. Well. I'll be going to the mainland. I want to have a chat with my sons, Jake and Kei…"

"I see, sir. Send them my greetings, sir."

"Of course."

Daikani headed for a off-board-engine boat hanging into the deck using a pair of cranes: he climbed in and it descended into the water level: he ignited it and soon "vanished" as a "ripple" formed in the air a few meters to the south.

"There he goes. Well."

"Ah! There you were, Oscar – kun. Why did you hide that mask under my cushion? Whose face is that?" Alex walked in and looked annoyed.

"Cha namesake~… Mr. Alexander The Lesser!"

"GRHTJKXH! Not again with the _Golden Sun_ jokes! Gimme a break!" He groaned.

"I'll give ya a vacation!"

Atarasei laughed while Alex sighed in defeat and groaned…


	13. Chapter 13: Crimson swordsman

**Chapter 13: Crimson swordsman**

09:33 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday February the 17th…

"… Yo! Uncle Merton came~!"

"Heck."

"There! UFO! The rooftop!"

"UFO? Oh! The flying tea-cups' revenge~! Heh, heh, heh."

"Phew. We shook him off somehow, Enzan – sama."

"Yeah… So, Obihiro… Nothing on the hacker?"

"Nothing! They're extremely sneaky. Even for my taste…!"

Enzan had Obihiro had been discussing the hacker in the Net Police HQ when Superintendent Oda showed up: Enzan improvised something random to shake him off and both he and Blues sighed in relief.

"Heh, heh, heh! Prophet Jeremy sends his non-greetings!"

"What the heck is that?" Obihiro groaned.

"Needle Man?" Blues tried to guess.

"Wrong! The competency~…"

"Heck. Shunoros."

"Bravo, Mr. Aragorn the 2nd!"

"I'm not Aragorn! And I feel some kind of _déjà vu_!"

"Wanna eat poison?"

"Shit. Venomous Wolf! Sieg!" Enzan cursed.

"What's with that mood, hero – sama~? We'd never met before~!"

"I've heard about you from Legato."

"But I changed my strategy~… Too bad: if only _Danna_ hadn't used Shadow then I could've used it myself… I asked Wave to lend me Celsius!"

"Another Summon Spirit?"

"Correct! It's the Ice Spirit. It doesn't fit with me but since Vine used Gnome and there's not one of Wood or Grass… Come!"

"Alright! Plug In! Blues, Transmission!"

Blues entered Obihiro's computer and spotted Venomous Wolf standing atop a container with the "BIOHAZARD" symbol on plus another logo which was a hexagon split into eight pieces: half of them, the cornering ones, were colored red, while the other half was colored white.

"Beware! I brought this from the Raccoon City lab! T-Virus!"

"You grabbed an engineered virus and edited it to turn Navis into zombies or what?" Enzan groaned.

"Who knows? But I'll save it up! First goes this! Oreichalcos Boundary!"

The Oreichalcos Boundary formed as Venomous Wolf jumped into the air, curled, spun and then landed on his feet while crossing his arms and drawing his claws: the container was left outside and behind Venomous Wolf: Blues sighed in relief while Venomous Wolf chuckled.

"Let's go! Purple Ink! 195!"

A purple-colored cubical-like octopus-shaped program formed and shot a streak of purple ink at Blues: he formed his shield and blocked the attack but the panels around him became Poison Panels: he growled.

"Wood Slash! 75% power up thanks to my "Wood" Attribute… And an extre 25% because I'm also Sword! So! 100% power-up! 360! And Blues – sama's HP clock at 3750! Mine clock at 2220… You wanted to prove you're harder to chew than ya _otouto – chan_?"

"Don't – bring – up – that – imitator." He hissed.

"Blues! Cool it down! It's an order!"

"Roger, Enzan – sama!"

"Great Axe! 75% power bonus… And it's BREAKER! 560 per 2! 1120!"

"What in the…! There's such a weapon?"

"EAT THIS!"

"Gotcha."

"HUH?"

Venomous Wolf hit Blues but he vanished and left a statue of Batman there instead: he reformed in the air and shot a string of 10 _shuriken_ at Venomous Wolf who growled and got trapped as each one struck him followed by another: he gasped when it ended.

"Devil! You used an Attack Plus 30 Battle Chip and two Attack Plus 10! So each one was worth 150 points…! 10 of them… 1500! I've lost 1500 already and I've barely begun to scratch the guy!"

"Hmpf. You're forgetting that I was Rock Man's rival. You should've checked up the Tera-Level duel we had about 4 years ago."

"Devil and damnation! Sword Fighter X! 105 per hit! 6! 630!"

Venomous Wolf delivered six quick attacks to Blues who blocked half with the shield and the other half did hit him.

"Giza Wheel X! 315! Eat this!"

Blues managed to deflect the attack and Venomous Wolf got a twitch over his right eye.

"Poison Storm! There are 8 "Poison" Panels so… 320! Eat this!"

He drew a fan which absorbed the poison and began to shoot a spiral of wind which did hit Blues.

"Hah! 320 plus 315 plus 360… 1315! I'm getting somewhere."

"Is that so? It tickles." Blues taunted back.

"Wha~t? This swordsman jerk!"

"Hmpf. That's manlier."

"Yo! Obi – chan! Wanna join our threesome? Let's make it foursome!"

"No." Obihiro drily and flatly sentenced.

"Heh! I guess Kage tested ya out but ya didn't get hooked."

"It's none of your business."

"Beware! The T-Virus lurks behind me!"

"It's empty. I already scanned it. You brought it just to make us think you had an ace in the hole." Obihiro let out.

"Aw. What a pity, my cute~…"

"Go kill the weed in your Panama hideout."

"Sure. I'm the house's Weed-Killer."

"Patent it."

"Alright! Pale disciple of the eternal freeze! I command you by the name of the contractor! Come out…! Celsius!"

A cross of ice formed on Blues' feet and shot several shards which embedded into his body.

"Heh, heh, heh. Total damage: 200! 1515!"

"Hmpf. I'll say thanks." Blues grinned.

"What are ya talking about?"

As a reply, Blues drew a Muramasa Blade yet it suddenly split into another two and formed a total of three blades.

"When I go over the 1500 HP of damage it's when I can activate this! The gift granted to me by Serenade…"

"By all the… That's what beat Eisei on his first encounter with ya!"

"The blocking was part of a plan to frustrate you: I made it look like you had some luck to get you cocky too and quickly build up damage to use this… Say farewell."

"Not so fast! Holy Panel, Dream Aura! Vulcan Seed X! 87 per 9! 783!"

Venomous Wolf protected himself and formed one cannon from which he shot several seeds in a row which hit Blues since he'd lowered the guard: he laughed.

"How was that like? 2298! Almost 2300! This is my comeback!"

"Heck. And we didn't bring any Breaker Battle Chips or anything to remove Dream Auras or Holy Panels…! I just had the usual Folder on! Can't be helped! We'll have to be old-fashioned, Blues."

"Roger."

"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword!"

"Dream Sword! Go!"

"Heck."

The Dream Sword's hit shattered the Dream Aura and Venomous Wolf grumbled something under his breath.

"Kogarashi X! 70! 6 hits! 420! Eat this!"

Venomous Wolf hit Blues and laughed without spotting how the glow of the blades became accentuated.

"Almost 2700! Another little bit…!"

"Program Advance! Fumikomizan, Triple Slot In!"

"Zeta Fumikomi!"

Blues suddenly dashed forward, warped, and hit Venomous Wolf three times: he growled.

"Huff. The total damage is 500 but I cut to 250…! 1750… Now we're more or less equal but I've got less than 500 HP left while this guy has about two times my amount left…! Gotta be careful or…"

"Eisei will go date a cooler guy than you." Enzan taunted.

"NO WAY!"

"Way." Blues smirked.

"Shaddup! Shuri Shuriken X! 320! Go!"

A _shuriken_ circled the edge of the field and grazed Blues from behind but he didn't seem to mind that.

"Yes! 3020, more or less… Another 730 to go…!"

"Too late."

"What?"

"Twin Muramasa!"

"W-what the hell is that?"

As a response, a ghostly copy of the triple Muramasa formed and hit Venomous Wolf three times: Blues rushed in with the solid one and also delivered three hits: Venomous Wolf groaned and collapsed into the ground while the "Boundary" vanished.

"Another little addition I made… If I go over 3000 points of damage I can create a split Muramasa triplet which can deliver 1500… Even the Holy Panel wouldn't let you withstand that… Since your HP were less than 750 then…"

"N-no way… I got my arse kicked… again…! Grah!"

"Flash!"

A flash happened and there was the sound of someone hitting the ground, bouncing off, and the warping sound: when it cleared Venomous Wolf wasn't there but instead there was a stamp with the word "Lightning" written on it.

"Gray Thunderbolt… Speaking of the devil…"

"Hmpf. They forget who I am. Once again." Blues shrugged.

"Obviously." Obihiro calmly muttered.

"They need to remember where they stored their Coca-Cola." Oda joked.

"Oh jeez!"

09:58 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff! The renewal of the warehouse rent is done… It took 3 days to get it done! What a nightmare."

"Truly, sir. By the way… _Aniki_ called, sir."

"Blues? Guess Ijuuin – kun told him to."

"Yes, sir. He beat Wolf and Gray had to rescue the guy."

"No wonder."

Legato was reporting to _Noir_ inside of his office and he didn't seem surprised as he worked on something using the laptop.

"It's hot… Guess I'll take off the hood… Nobody can see us, anyway."

He lowered his hood: he had a youthful face which didn't look like it was older than fifteen or sixteen years old: its profile was plain and wasn't anything out of the ordinary and his eyes' irises were of a navy blue color: but his face was highly reminiscent of that of Kage's face to begin with.

"Phew. Guess we need to regulate the heater's settings."

"So it'd seem, sir."

"V! B! N! Back with a backing backer! Go~!"

"Heh. Not bad." _Noir_ grinned.

"… "Mortadelo! Filemón! The time's come to test another invention by Professor Bacterio and… But… What the devil are you doing?" … "Didn't you say the time's come? Remember Prophet Jeremy's words! "In the last time the sky will fall into the earth crushing everyone and…!" … "Stop the fooling around and pay attention to the Prof!" … "It's the "translator" this time around… You can be sent to anywhere in the world in a breeze without any need for transport means!" … It's a map display with a touch-pen connected to it and a control panel… "Did you listen, Boss? Get ready to start your last trip!" … "By the way… Did you know I've been nominated "Mister Universe"?"… "Mr. Universe! Hah, hah! It's gotta be in the Planet of Apes! Hah, hah, hah!" … "You're Mr. Universe, I'm Madonna!"…"

"Mr. Universe, eh? A parody of Miss Universe…"

"Truly, sir."

"… "Hah, hah, hah, hah!" … "Ahah! I knew it was the only way you'd open the mouth!" BLUMPFJJJ!" … "Alright. Now you have the Estroncho Carbide Carbolic Fuel… You must be near the device… And I touch the destination spot with the Mandrago Robellotero Pricker… And you off like a wild spark at F-One speed!"…"

"Not F-Zero?" _Noir_ joked.

"I guess not, sir."

"… "What a slip! We're testing inventions and the security anti-spy armored door is open…"… BLAF! "Boss! Where were you going in such a rush? You always ask one foot a permit to move the other! I must say that this is a pretty silly way of answering me~!" … He placed a safe atop him and made him be one with the ground! "Alright! Luck had it that you'll test the device!" … "Luck? What luck?" … "Luck that I have "Bernabé" and you don't…"… Note: a thick wooden stick! "Ah! Of course! I'm going, I'm going!"… "So you're the volunteer!" … "No! I'm the village idiot! Send me wherever you need to!"… "Take the occasion to bring this letter to General Botíjez! Ready, Prof! Send him to the General's!" … "There goes Mortadelo~!"… "UA~H! SAVE ME~!"… "Will you really not leave me for another? Will you really?" … "I totally swear it, dear!" … "A~h! Fake! So much swearing and she goes with the first passer-by!"… "How dare you, you bald harebrained!"… "I… I…!" ..."You go kidnap apes: I get off here!"… "What mood! Looks like an urban bus!"… BLOF! "I kept you waiting, my dear? Ah! Twisted in the grass with a fake!" … "No… I… She fell from the sky… I…" … "And you laugh at me! Take blow from the galaxy!" … "W-what happened here…? What?"…"What a brutal gal! What a gal!" … "Ah! How dare you, you vile and evil being? Take this!" … "There she is! And with another! She doesn't have enough Take, girl-thief chimpanzee!" … "That's what I like, Hermengardo! Hit these satyrs hard! Hard!"… "Like you hear, Doctor… My life is slapping… My girlfriend slaps me… Girls slap me, a guy comes and slaps me…!" … "Man! What a guy! I'm fed up already! Maybe I should slap him too!"…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Mortadelo seeds trouble wherever he goes to!"

"Truly… Heh, heh, heh."

"… "Ah! General Botíjez's apartment window… I'm headed straight for it!" … SPLASH! "I~H!" … "What's wrong, dear…? AH!" … "This miserable bloke got in through the window!"… "N-no, it's not what you think, I…!" … "Nobody attempts against MY honor! Eat this, you damned bug! Eat this! EAT THIS!" Shoots with a shotgun! … "Devil! I splash and get spin-dried next! Help me~! Phew! What a day! I'll get into that bar to have a beer for a while…" … "Mortadelo must be done by now. Let's bring him back!" … "Hum! I don't like this guy's look! If he tries to get out without paying…! Ah! I knew it! I knew it! Take _tapa_! House's present! TAKE THIS!" … "UA~H!" … A shotgun shot in the rear!"

"Bacterio and his timing, really…"

"… "No! Not that! No! NO~UNGF!" … "Stop, Catacúmbez! They're stealing the coffin!"… "Dear! Dear me~!" … "Well, no. I was looking for something else… Some still life…" … "Of course! Warehouse? Send us a still life for Ms. Marquise!" … CRASH! PTOF! A~H! "What mockery! What an affront! I won't ever come back!"… "Dear! You can't rest in peace!" … "Take joke! Take this! EAT THIS!"… "Calm down, dude~! Devil! The trip continues! I seem to be the Lugo-Jaén lamb!"… "See, Mortadelo isn't coming back. I'll close the window to prevent bugs from getting in!"… CRASH! "Heh! It looks like the keep in coming! Get here, get here, yeah… We'll test sending both of them!"… "I refuse! I didn't…!" … "Let's send them to the Viscount Rabadillof Manor!"… "There they go!" … "No! Not the Viscount Manor! I read on the press that today's morning… It was going to be dynamited to create the site of a public urinal!" BOOM! "Ow! Open up! My beard got stuck in the cover!"… "This is Mr. Super! Get us outta here!"… "Why! Don't you hear voices?" … "Don't mind it! Heh, heh! It's the parrot!" … "This is Mr. Superrr! I wanna come out!" Loading of atomic residues to be dumped into the sea-bottom. … End! V-B-N! Off air! See you around next time~!"

"Heh, heh, heh. They put them into the drums and they wanted them to be sent to the sea-bottom, eh? They're vengeful."

"Sure they are~…"

"Let's contact Zero… Hello? Zero?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Nothing?"

"On the hacker…? No. I checked the pyramid ruins again but it'd seem the hacker was only there until a while ago… They don't seem to have returned there…" Zero reported with some frustration.

"Heck. It's starting to remind me of how "Dullahan" and the thefts he organized eluded our surveillance a year ago…"

"No wonder…" _Noir_ sighed too.

"Not even those broadcasts can help me shake off this frustration. Guess Kuroban's was worse, even."

"Yeah… Guess that. Didn't Slur – sama say something?"

"She's clueless too."

"Huff." Legato sighed.

"I know. This hacker worries me: they could go berserk across a city and try to stir up hatred against Net Navis or something like that."

"Hum. I hadn't thought of that… One more reason to get a hold on them no matter what… By the way… Regarding Shunoros… Do we tell the other agencies which didn't see the Cassini data that they're in Panama?" Zero asked him.

"Yeah. Go ahead. But add that it could be a red herring… So that they won't be surprised if they don't find them there…"

"Roger."

"Huff. I need a break. I work too much. Some days off to some calm resort will do, I hope."

"Let's hope so, sir…"

19:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yeah… Fuck me more, guys…"

"Heh, heh, heh. See, Eisei? He's a perfect masochist. Always eager to be toyed with…"

"I never doubted it, Urateido."

"Heh, heh, heh!"

Eisei and Ernst had met another guy in a bedroom somewhere which had a bed, some chairs, a window covered by curtains, a closed door and a cupboard.

This guy was about Eisei's height and had blackish hair was combed in a neat manner and extended until the base of the neck while his eyes' irises were blue in coloring: he looked smug.

He wore a grayish jumper, jeans and white socks.

Sieg's arms had been placed behind his back and that a bundle of ropes suspended from the ceiling had been tied around his forearms to immobilize him.

There was some rope tightened over his butt naked body: it began around the neck forming a shape similar to the Alphabet letter "V" when seen from the front and the two parallel ropes fused into one knot which gave way to a diamond-shaped pattern repeating twice across his upper body before both ropes travelled down parallel next to his cock and balls thus making a loop and heading upwards while brushing against the sides of his ass: it formed another diamond behind his body and two ropes began at each side of the diamond.

These ropes converged into the frontal diamond thus rubbing the sides of his body: they kept on climbing up across his back until it formed an incomplete diamond below his shoulders: another two ropes formed on the edges and ran around the sides of his body.

Lastly, the ropes travelled over his shoulders and joined the "V" shape over his upper body.

There were two pink-colored plastic-made capsule-shaped objects strapped to his nipples with cello-tape plus another one attached slightly beneath his cock's head: his legs' hips contained two rectangular objects strapped to them too from which some wires emerged and travelled up to the objects on his nipples and his cock.

He also had a string of plastic beads with a ring on their end placed into his urethra plus a bell-shaped vibrator strapped there with tape.

Both guys were stuffing their cocks into him by now.

Sieg also had a black blindfold over his eyes and he now looked eager and like he was enjoying the deal.

"Heh, heh, heh. Which of us has the bigger cock, Sieg?" Urateido asked.

"Cha do, _Danna_~…" He replied.

"Guess I fall short for some inches… Whatever. This feels good."

"The thrill! You can't have enough." Sieg laughed.

"Yeah. Your big sis trained you well, man. Too bad your lil bro was a crybaby and ran away to be recruited by the Golden Star guys."

"Leonel was always a crybaby, yeah… Always begging… I wanted more and I had fun training him further… Oh, the hate he had… I'm sure that he'd almost become a Sith, even… Heh, heh, heh."

"Sure thing…"

Urateido grinned and drew a pair of clothes pegs with a string connecting them which he clipped into Sieg's nipples: he began to pull them and Sieg began to moan.

"Yeah… Some pain! It keeps me awake!"

"Remember, though, Urateido… We mustn't talk about this if those two guys come to the base. It was no joke for them, ya know."

"I know. I don't want to start a civil war!"

"Good."

"Yeah… This thrill which comes with your cock demanding for release and unable to do it… Only tough guys can feel the grace of it!"

"Sure." Eisei grinned.

"You had a big bro, didn't you too?" Sieg brought up.

"Oh yeah. But the guy was also too much of a crybaby. A Choina guy abducted us and kept us on his manor for a while… It was like what happened with Ernst, yeah… I soon learnt to like it but big bro was weeping the whole time. I needed to put the ball-gag on the guy and keep him immobile to get rid of his stupid weeping. Guess he ended up hating me too… What a bizarre parallelism! Eh, Sieg?"

"Sure thing… A mix of you and that Ernst guy… But I'd rather not annoy the guy… He looks like he could kill you and soon forget you."

"Yeah… That guy built up the hatred and turned very cold as a result: Umisama was different 'cause those were just temporary attempts by some aunt of the guy… He managed to escape and ended up in the Seraph HQ a year ago washed there by a storm…"

"And the others never got involved in the stuff, right?"

"No. They never got involved in that. Hey, Sieg. I just had an idea: I'll bring ya to my family's porn store! We have a cool dungeon only for VIPs! You'll love it."

"Sure. Bring me anytime. We've got plenty of free time, anyway. But I really screwed it up with Blues…!"

"Huff. I could've fallen for that double triple Muramasa thing too: talk about a guy who loves to frighten you by returning up to 3000 HP points of damage… I'd rather say a light-year away from the guy!" Eisei rolled his eyes too.

"Yikes." Urateido gulped.

"Aren't you concerned about the hacker?" Sieg brought up.

"Of course. But Umisama found nothing yet. They could be overseas too."

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP!

"Whose PET is that?" Urateido asked.

"Not mine." Eisei replied.

"Mine… But how weird… I set another tune if it was a Shunoros transmission… Maybe someone dialed the wrong number?"

"Bah. I can pick it and set it to sound only."

Eisei picked the PET and replied yet only static showed up on the screen along with some background beeping.

"Huh… Hello?"

"Shunoros. I shall let you hear my voice." A voice slowly intoned: it had a marked foreign accent and making a pause before each word as if they weren't familiar with the idiom.

"The hacker?"

"… Correct. I am the hacker you were looking for." They also used the old-fashioned "onushi" word to address them.

"You sound like a _ninja_."

"Ninja…? Ah. Those medieval assassins, I take it. I have heard of those."

"So you're a foreigner… Or _pretending_ to be a foreigner? That accent seems to be pretty much forced and that surely isn't your usual way of speaking. You're trying to mislead us." Eisei looked mistrusting.

"Hmpf. Well. Who knows the answer?" They didn't change their way of speaking.

"What the heck do you want? To be the strongest in the Cyber World or what?"

"Correct. You, Golden Star, Net Police… You are in the way."

"_Clichéd_. You can start by trying to defeat Slur."

"That woman is nothing. I shall go for the leader first."

"Our leader? The Prince? Well. Go ahead. But if you get pounded then it's your fault for being cocky."

"Define that word."

"For feeling like you'll easily win…"

"Hmpf. It shall not be easy yet it is not impossible."

"Alright. Do as you like. You can go back to weeping after the Prince completely beats you using his full power."

"I have seen it."

"When he battled Burai? But he wasn't using the Boundary. That's not his true power. The Boundary is a key element of it."

"Hmpf. Then I shall see. And if it does not work… I shall take your power one by one… Until I am at the top… And the Demon Tribe is resurrected and rules the world again… Barbatos has spoken…"

"Oi! Wait! Che. He cut. But that last part sounded like a _Skyward Sword_ rip-off to begin with. And "Barbatos" is an Earl and Duke of Hell in Demonology…" Eisei grumbled.

"At least we know what they want." Urateido shrugged.

"We can tell the Prince when we get back." Sieg suggested.

"Alright. Let's finish. Get ready, Sieg."

"Fire away, _Danna_~…"

Urateido grinned and loosened the ropes on the base of the cock before pulling out both the bell vibrator and the beads: Sieg released in several strong sprouts which fell into his body while both guys released inside of his ass next.

"Ah… Refreshing. Well then… Let's go tackle Mr. Hacker!"

"How foolish… Let them be defeated by the Prince!" Urateido snickered.

"Heh, heh, heh… Things are burning… Let them burn! Heh, heh, heh!"


	14. Chapter 14: Latvia

**Chapter 14: Latvia**

07:47 AM (Latvia Time), Saturday February the 20th…

"… So, Ernst… Where did you go off all these months?"

"My bad. We were building a new base in Panama but some incidents popped along the way so it got delayed… And then we went touring along Central and South Ameroupe… The Prince was interested in the Incas and Mayans, so…"

"Ah! I see. By the way… That Laika man… He's seemingly obsessed with finding you and your companions… I always manage to say you "accidentally" slipped out some place but he's stopped bugging me because he thinks I got told red herrings…"

"Good… That guy seemingly brings trouble along so…"

"Isn't it too hot in Panama?"

"It's on the Northern Hemisphere so it's still winter yet temperatures rise early…"

"Ah! Sorry. I thought it was on the Southern. Really. I forget my geography lessons."

"Bah. Don't mind it. No – one's perfect."

"Yeah. I hope Father doesn't spot that or he'll have me go over them once again… Huff."

"The Vicar has a reputation to keep."

"I know, I know! It's just that… You sometimes feel frustrated."

"Don't carry it around or it'll become a burden, Alec."

"Alright… Anyway… Did you meet you father?"

"Mr. Nikolay? Yeah. He was expecting me to take a while to come back so he wasn't too surprised."

"What happened to your talking robot, anyway? I thought I'd see it fly."

"It was not talking per se… It was just broadcasting pre-recorded messages… The only thing it had was the flight engine and control software plus a device to project materialized attacks… The Prince wanted to tweak it a bit but he doesn't seem to be satisfied so he's always adding or extracting things… He finally seemed to reach a settling point and is preparing to get it ready to fly again."

"Ah! OK."

Ernst was talking with someone else as they sat on a thick tree branch next to an abandoned house in a small forest clearing.

His companion was a young man who had brown combed hair and blue eyes.

He wore a blackish wool sweater plus jeans and sneakers.

"Chut!"

An owl's howl rang out and Ernst took out his PET to engage a radar app: a dot was slowly approaching them from the west.

"I stake anything that it's Laika again. Fine. I'll scare him a bit. You stay quiet, Alec. OK?"

"Sure. I've wanted to see your "transformation" for a while."

Ernst dropped down and landed in front of the house: he stood there folding his arms and indeed: Laika soon came into sight while carrying a flashlight: he merely lifted the right eyebrow.

"So! Soldier – sama bothered to come to the forsaken village. Beware of the villagers. Although… This isn't Spain."

"What are you talking about?" Laika got annoyed on the spot.

"_Biohazard 4_: did you miss it? Guess that: you had to be too busy struggling to rise. Or exchanging jokes with General Ivan."

"Hmpf. You think you're funny. What are you guys up to?"

"Looking for Barbatos."

"What?"

"The hacker, man. Do you live in the clouds?"

"I didn't know their name was Barbatos!"

"Ah. Then it's still inside info… Or should I say outside info?"

"Enough chit-chat. You'll answer my questions."

"We're in Panama. Find out your elementary school geography book and blow the dust off it."

"This guy…!"

Alec was looking on from above and chuckling under his breath.

"Denpa – Henkan! Ernst Stroger, On Air!"

"What!"

"Trouble." Search Man grimly muttered.

Ernst drew his PET and activated something: it began to glow and emitted streams of light from a circle's edge as it expanded and the PET became a mass of energy which formed various "streams" which began to wrap around Ersnt's limbs and main body and head while glowing: Laika had to bring up his right arm out of instinct to protect his eyes and so did Alec although he was grinning.

"End Angel: summoned!"

End Angel appeared there and drew his sword: he snickered and held it horizontally while closing his eyes and muttering something.

"Under the shinning name of the Lord: may the Light of Judgment fall as rain upon those impure souls who crawl in the World! Rest in peace, you who are burdened by your sins! Judgment!"

The blade glowed and some pillars of light formed at random across the area: Laika gasped and backed off: End Angel then formed a hologram of a gigantic monster with arms and some wings of forming a halo: it had no eyes but a gigantic mouth.

"Meet the "Shuuen no Mono" on its form of "The Sealed One"… It's about to have you as _Hors D'ouevre_! Go!"

"Shit!"

"Laika – sama: it is but a hologram, sir."

"T-this jerk…! Making a fool out of me…!"

"Go: blame Crazy Ivan."

"Grhtkxh!"

"That sounds like music to my ears. You're not welcome here, symbol of oppression… We gained our freedom two decades ago: and no one is going to steal it from us! Flee, foul one! Or else the Court of Owls will send the Talon for your head! "Beware of the Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch, behind granite and lime, they watch you at your heart, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send the Talon for your head."…"

"This guy's too weird for my taste. I now prefer Superintendent Oda."

"Uncle Merton's favorite nephew, I take it?"

"GHTKGNCK!" He growled something undecipherable.

"Get ready! The end's come! End…!"

"I'm off! Uncle will hear from ME!"

Laika ran off like he was gonna be slaughtered alive and End Angel chuckled as he flew upwards and landed next to Alec: he jumped down into the first floor of the house which had an open window leading to an abandoned dusty bedroom.

"Wow. You did kick him off."

"Heh! The "Judgment" attack wasn't a hologram and this sword has this scary aura to it so… Guess he'll be growling at his uncle for sending him to this backwater place."

"Totally. Show them who's in charge."

"Heh, heh, heh. Anyway… Cancel!"

The energy flew off his body and the PET reformed so he caught it and pocketed it up while shrugging.

"Heh, heh, heh. These new _Batman_ comics are cool. I'll sneak them to you so that you needn't suffer about if they'll ever sell them here… This reboot of the franchise wasn't that bad of an idea seeing how this Court of Owls seems to be a fearsome opponent…"

"Sure."

"I doubt anyone else will bother to come over… Did any of bastard's connections show up?"

"No – one. We spread a rumor that you were watching the whole time and ready to cut off the necks of whoever dared to stick them out: it's worked like a charm. If you could submit some footage with some edits there and there, then…"

"Heh, heh, heh. I get it."

"Shunoros. I found another. The emissary of the end." A voice rang out from Ernst's PET.

"Speaking of Barbatos, here he shows up. Will you fight the Shuuen no Mono to become the new Demon King?"

"Who or what is that?"

"Heh! Check it out: the keyword is "Skyward Sword"…"

"Hmpf. I care not and I will care not. I shall defeat your folk."

"The Prince got your message: he's expecting ya anytime~…"

"Hmpf. I shall not rush and charge in like a neophyte. I shall prepare. And then… You are next. I have warned you." "Barbatos" warned before cutting off the call.

"Scary, scary~… Heh, heh, heh."

"Is it me or I think that that guy is hiding something?" Alec wondered.

13:49 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo. Obihiro – kun. Did the hacker show up?"

"No."

"Wrong. Net Police."

"Whoa! Who's there?"

"Me. Barbatos. That is… my name."

"A foreigner…?"

"Intriguing, by Merton. Did you meet Uncle Merton and his secretive weapon?"

"Weapon? Is it powerful?"

"Ask him."

"… I have a suspicion. You made that up. It is a dead alley."

"Bravo, my chum."

"I do not need to know pointless words."

"You sound like a machine instead of a Navi."

"Me. Foreigner. I… Not familiar… With local idiom…"

"Hmmm…"

"You suspect he cursed your rice cookies, Obihiro – kun?"

"No, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh."

Obihiro had been working with the computer: Oda showed up to joke and then "Barbatos" established a sound only channel yet its quality kept on being pretty bad: Obihiro looked like he was mistrusting.

"You have been warned. I deliver defeat."

"No wonder. You stole our donuts."

"I do not need to know pointless words."

"My! What a stiff guy."

"What's going on?" Torolov popped his head into the room.

"The hacker. They've come."

"What! That's news!"

"Net Police."

"Wrong. Sharo Army."

"Operator of Search Man, Laika?"

"No. Ian Torolov. A companion of his."

"Then tell them that I shall take their power. One day or another. One way or another."

"I think they're speaking like that to create a red herring and make us believe he's a foreigner."

"What's up now?" Enzan asked as he rushed in.

"The hacker… They're challenging us."

"Hmpf. Let them try to beat my Triple Muramasa."

"Muramasa. The cursed blade. Who owns it?"

"A lot of people. But the real Muramasa Blade is the one I got granted by Serenade."

"Serenade. In the past… They were the ruler of the Reverse Internet. Yet they fell battling a foe past their level."

"That's true."

"Did you carry out revenge on that one?"

"No. Revenge is hollow, pointless." Enzan calmly replied.

"Hmpf. That… We shall see."

"He's gone and his encryption was very good… Guess he picked Golden Star's ones from Dark Man's communication software…"

"Well! Shall I treat you to something?"

"… 3, 2, 1… Hop."

The guys quickly scrambled off the room while Oda chuckled and sat on a chair while drawing out his PET.

"… V-B-N! Video!"

"Burner! _Marchando_!"

"Shah, shah, shah! Needle!"

"In… "The T. I. A. goes and gets up-to-date!"…"

"It's begun, by Merton!"

"… "Genius and glory of the arts… Six letters… Ah! Of course! Ibañez!" … "Hi, Boss! What do you think of my "Morronguero" cat disguise? Rrrron, rrron…" … "Grrr! Pick your fleas and go elsewhere!" … "Hey! Boys! We need to continue on testing Professor Bacterio's inventions!" … "Devil! Sorry to leave you, Boss, but I've got an appointment with the veterinarian!"… "T-the rascal… He tied both shoes' strings together!" …. "Well! Practicing a new dance, eh? What's its name? The Mad Shoe Dance? Well! You'll continue tomorrow! Let's get to work!"… "It's the elevator discs… They'll make the stairs, elevators and even the choppers be forgotten! You only need to yell "hop!" in a loud manner to go up and yelling "puf!" you go down…"… "Hey, Boss! See what I taught my tamed flea, "Repicona", to do! Go! Hop!" … ZOUF! CRONCH!"

"Heh, heh, heh. He met the ceiling, yessir."

"… "Well, Boss! I needn't know about the increase of your problems and complications in life? Leave me alone~! GRTHCJ! You're going to learn a comb's value!" … "But, Boss… Why do I need to know it? I only use polisher!"… "There! Heh, heh, heh! Hop!" … "Gotcha! Grmblk! You put gravel in my cutis cream, eh?" … "Dear! I'm more chased than an official armchair!" ZOUF! CRONCH!"

"Ms. Secretary runs in and steps into the disc!" He grinned.

"… "Well! Heh, heh. Did you like the blow?" … "Horrors! I love it, even!" … "Ms. Ofelia! Allow me to tell you that you're somewhat brusque!"…"

"… "Well! You know it, eh? Yelling "hop" they go up and "puf" they go down." … "And if you yell "pee" they bring you to the WC, eh?" … "Stop joking and go test it out! ... "Aha! I won't hit my head here. Hop! Ah! What a delight! The silence and loneliness of the sky…!" … TRRR! DJI~H! FLOP, FLOP! JIAORRR! GRÑECK! GRÑECK! "Get out of the way, by Allah!"… "Ask for permission, you brute!" … "Let's see if we respect priorities!" … "Your old man!" …"You had to be a woman! Go to the kitchen!"…"

"There was plenty of traffic, I take it."

"Well! We had a chopper, a jet, a helix plane, a vulture, an Arabian riding a carpet, a witch and a guy on a balloon… GRRGLC! BLOF! "Puf, puf, puf!" … "And the guy spits at me! Eat beak! Eat this! Eat it!"… TAC, TAC, TAC, TAC! "Boss! What happened? Huff. Your necktie's a mess! I'll fix it up!" … "Hey! Dude! Less snoring and get back to work! There! Hop!" … ZOUF! "GJJJJ! Stop, you miserable butcher! Grjjj! Boston Strangler! Let go of me~!"… "Ok, Boss! As you say: I'm letting go!"… "A~H!" CRONCH! "Someone's going to regret this! Grjtkz! … Someone will have to hang the lenses on the rear!"… "There's my disc! Let's chase! HOP!"… "Huh! I think I've gone way too up… Gotta go down… Puf! Alright! Faster! Puf, puf, puf!"… "Alright! Faster! Hop, hop, hop!" PTAFF! … "Devil! Is that you, Boss? Is that you? Stuck! Gotta do something… Maybe with some oil…"…"Yes, Mr. Policeman! A man-eater with a man-sandwich! He placed a man between two cookies! He was going to throw oil to it to eat it up!" … "Don't run, no! I'm gonna give you disc! Gonna give you~…!" … "Come on, Boss! Cool it down! It's bad to do so much effort when you're so thin! Go have fun with that Julito guy's discs!"…"Brrr! I'm going to test it one last time and if it fails I'll make it be a manhole! Hop!" … "Why! It's Filemón! It's been too long! Hug me and… MOUMPF! Placing the… the… in my face! Take hug! Take it!"…"

"Trouble calls for further trouble~… Ah! Indou – kun! Bring me some fish n chips and be sure they aren't cursed by Uncle Anatole."

"GKRHTXL!" Someone in the corridor growled.

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's listen to the rest!"

"… "Boss is busy with a buddy, so I'll do my last test. Hop! Dear me!" … "You miserable snooper! Take eye blow! Take it!"… "So, Boss… How's everything like?"… "Psche! A bit knotted, see… I'm going back home with the bloody disc…" … "Heh! Mine must've reached the skies by now!"… "I'm sure the elevator's out of service so we'll enter through the window… Hop!" … "Yes, Mr. Super! A missile which doesn't need a launch ramp and which can be retrieved if it misses the target! I'll make it go have an excursion through the window and make it come back…" … "Devil! W-what's THAT?" … "Dunno… I think it's too big to be a swallow!" BOOM!"

"Heh! They hit the missile."

"… "Relieving Explosion in Front of the "TIA" Superintendent Office! The Superintendent, Professor Bacterio and 2 agents which were seemingly close by are picked from the Caribbean waters when the sharks were starting to bite them and…"… "Trying to stop a missile with the navel…! Don't run, no! I'm gonna stop your vital functions!"… "The bearded guy is to blame! Allow me to shave the guy~!" … "You don't get closer to my beard, bald monkey! Go pose as mummies on the Egyptian Museum!"… END! Another 3 chapters left! Heh, heh, heh! N!"

"B!"

"V!"

"Off-air!"

"As refreshing as usual, yessir. And that Barbatos fellow can play scary all he wants… We'll soon see if that young man is lucky or not. Oh! Arai – kun: tell the others that Uncle Reveal will drop by." He called out to someone in the corridor while grinning.

"Huff! Stop with the fictitious uncles, Superintendent Oda!"

"Too bad! I'm inspired, by Merton."

"How lovely. The Net Police HQ goes mad again… Someone save us…!"

00:45 PM (Indiana Time)…

"… Destroy all madness! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Jeez. Dingo. Your mottoes get lazier by the day."

"E~H? No way!"

"Way. Now, tell me if the radar has caught anything weird around here, the outer sectors of our base…"

"Well… There's a gray dot…"

"Gray dot? No way. There's either blue or red but not gray."

"Maybe it's a glitch or I'm reading it wrong?"

"Show it to me."

"I'm the kitchen's roast beef ghost!"

"UA~H! I knew it! That roast beef was cursed!"

"Don't say nonsense, Dingo. It's gotta be an intruder."

"Yessir. Your worst nightmare~… The Anti Sioux Curse!"

"Uwa~h! I knew it: I'm cursed!"

Tomahawk Man had been patrolling the Ameroupe Army Base's Cyber World and Dingo was awake despite the odd hour.

"Well! That happens because you should be napping."

"Huff! I feel nervous and I can't get asleep."

"No wonder! With the roast beef cursing ya~…"

"Who – goes – there?" Tomahawk Man annoyingly asked as he looked around.

"Raging Flame! Shunoros!"

"Heck. A flame guy… I'm in for a Hell."

"More like you're in for an Inferno!"

"Devil."

"The Devil's come to ROAST YA!"

Raging Flame showed up by shedding a grayish mantle which he'd used to hide in a corner and grinned while Tomahawk Man drew his default weapon yet he couldn't avoid looking nervous.

"Heh, heh, heh. Sioux _a la _Shunoros."

"Screen Divide!"

"Whoa! That's… Colonel?"

"Step back, Tomahawk Man. This is an unfair battle. I'll handle the field."

Colonel suddenly attacked Raging Flame and he barely dodged: Colonel stepped in while having his sword lifted and Tomahawk Man silently stepped back: Raging Flame smirked.

"Heh. This guy's HP points clock at 3050 and mine at 2850… There's not that much of a gap… Let's go! Oreichalcos Boundary! Let that mysterious power become my power, and enclose me and my enemies within the sacred seal's yard! Engage!"

"Hmpf."

Colonel wasn't impressed as the "Boundary" formed and enclosed them inside of it: Raging Flame smirked.

"Heat Grenade! 210 points! Go!"

"Hmpf. Screen Divide!"

Colonel quickly moved in a diamond pattern to avoid the Heat Grenade and shot a Screen Divide which Raging Flame dodged.

"Area Steal! Fire Slash! 350 points!"

Raging Flame warped and hit Colonel yet he blocked.

"Shirahadori. And it's a program built into me."

"In short: you'll repel all Sword-Attribute attacks. Che."

"Hmpf."

Raging Flame stepped back and grumbled as he apparently checked his Folder.

"Heh. Ground Wave X! 150! Mahi Plus!"

"Huh! Paralysis. But 150 is nothing."

"Zetsumetsu Meteor! 122 per meteor! 27 meteors! If they all hit you then it's gonna become 3294 of damage! Yet! They fall down 3 lots of 3 per row so you can't be hit by more than 9 of them. Yet even 9 of them inflict 1098 of damage. It's my terrific weapon! Go~!"

"Gruo~h!"

"Heck. I'd be dead by now if I'd battled the guy." Tomahawk Man grimly muttered.

"Of course! Your Operator ate my friend roast beef and its soul demands revenge~… By cursing the guy so that he loses each hockey match he takes part in!" Raging Flame laughed.

"But I never play hockey…" Dingo frowned.

"Who knows, Hockey Soul Guy?"

"What the heck is that…?" He looked defeated.

"Hmpf."

"Ah! I forgot. They're Breaker as well. So you actually suffered 2196 points of damage." He told Colonel.

"Damn it. Both I and Tomahawk Man have the Sword Attribute so we're at a disadvantage here. No wonder how even Golden Star had trouble with these guys." Colonel grimly muttered.

"Heat Upper X! 437! It's Breaker too! So! 875 total! Sum it up to the already suffered damage and you get 3071! I'll beat ya with this one blow: get ready! Hra~h!"

"Colonel Cannon! 300!"

"Uack! Damn it. Bah. 300… That's nothing!"

"Colonel Army!"

Several soldiers popped out and began to shoot at Raging Flame: 9 in total formed and then Colonel formed a missile launched from which he shot 6 missiles which landed on Raging Flame.

"Each soldier: 30. 9 per 30: 270. Each missile: 50! 50 per 6: 300. Total: 570 HP deduced. I wasn't Serenade's companion in vain."

"Heck. Bo-Bo-Bon Bomb X! 225 extra: 525! Breaker! 1050! Eat this!"

Colonel suddenly threw his cloak at Raging Flame and thrust forward with his saber to plunge it into the chest area of Raging Flame: he groaned and stepped back but did manage to throw the bomb: Colonel simply vanished and formed a statue of himself instead: he shot a shuriken at Raging Flame and hit him.

"Heck. The thrust thing was worth 500 and this 200… 700… 570… 300… Those sum up about… 1570 out of my 2850… Huff. I've lost over 50% of my HP… Gotta be careful… Break Count Bomb! 1050 per 2: 2100! This time it's THE END!"

A gigantic bomb formed in the Field and began to tick down but Colonel didn't lose his cool and simply drew his Colonel Cannon.

"Not so fast! Holy Panel! This thing won't be broken by attacks that clock below 300 HP points of damage! Hah!"

"Che."

Colonel shot and the blast hit the bomb yet it had no effect: a distorted chuckle rang out across the area as purplish geysers showed up of nowhere and so did purplish floating flames.

"I am Barbatos. This is… a warning… I shall… rise… from the deepest pits of Hell… and I shall become… the strongest…" A voice slowly intoned alongside static bursts.

"The hacker, huh." Raging Flame muttered.

"Hacker?"

BEEP!

"UGKURO~GH!"

"Hah, hah, hah! _Good timing_, Mr. Hacker! _You lose_!"

The bomb went off and Colonel was brought down: Raging Flame retrieved the Oreichalcos Boundary just as the sound of armored feet walking rang out and a figure could be distinguished approaching from afar: Raging Flame grinned and looked there.

"Oho. So he's finally gonna show his hide?"

The figure walked forward to reveal how they wore an armor which looked like a European Medieval armor colored in a bluish tone: it had a facial protection which ended in a jagged end like it was teeth or a saw: the right side of it had a crack from where an eye with a purple iris looked out: they also carried a large simplistic sword.

"My name is… Barbatos. I shall… be the strongest… this armor is unbreakable… My sword… deflects it all… I cannot… be brought down… at all… even if you… destroy my body… my grudge and hatred will continue to draw and incarnate until the end of Time Eternal…" They continued to intone amongst bursts of static.

"Heh! Eat Heat Upper X!"

"Fool… Interloper… Out of the… way…"

Raging Flame tried hitting the armored figure but their blade glowed and robbed the flames off the right fist to then form it on the intruder's right fist and hit Raging Flame back: he howled.

"Shit. This guy's no joke. I'm off!"

He warped off while "Barbatos" hit the ground with the sword and vanished with a bright purple flash.

"… "Barbatos"…! They can copy anything you shoot at him…! This won't be an easy opponent to deal with…! Grah…! Just who is he…?"


	15. Chapter 15: The Punk Unleashed

**Chapter 15: The Punk Unleashed**

10:03 AM (Japan Time), Sunday February the 28th…

"… Wow. And wow."

"What's with that face, Obihiro – kun?"

"Ah! Hikari – hakase. I'm still awed at the news of two days ago."

"Really? I didn't see anything odd in the TV."

"Ah! But it only concerns the gaming community, sir."

"A new game…?"

"Two new games…!"

"Oh? And why are they so exciting?"

Obihiro had been working in a Science Labs room and looking awed: Yuuichirou walked in and looked surprised.

"Well… Do you know about _Pocket Monsters_, sir?"

"Oh. I remember watching some episodes some years ago… They began as games, right…? You need to catch all species…"

"Well. We were expecting the new game to be named _Pocket Monsters Gray_ but instead they did something unexpected and cool."

"And that is…?"

"They made two _sequels_! _Black 2_ and _White 2_!"

"Oh my. That's a first?"

"Well. _Gold _and _Silver_ were also sequels but since they included a new region and all… Yet these are set in the same Isshu Region, feature new protagonists and new areas…! And new characters and Gym Leaders as well…! It'll come out in June…!"

"My."

"By the way… That "Barbatos" fellow…"

"Yes? What about him?"

"His armor is a rip-off."

"Oh yes? Where'd he steal it from?"

"The _manga_ series _Pocket Monsters Special_… The _Emerald Chapter_… It belongs to a character named Guile Hideout…"

"I see."

"It's seemingly inspired by a myth in the Sinnoh Region about a human hurting the Pokémon with a sword… There's a passage in the _manga_: let me fish it out… Here… "If you swing that sword and hurt our companions then we shall hurt your companions…" … And the name "Guile" is derived from a compound reading of the "yoroi" or "armor" and "nagare" or "stream", so "armor-stream"… Gairu… Guile…"

"I see."

"The armor is named "Eternal" and it makes the passage of time be slowed down for the one wearing it while the sword is named "Instant" and can deflect it all…"

"I guess he's done his research."

"But it can be broken. Yet… This mania of using the old-style speech and this armor… Why go to such extremes to hide their true look…? Maybe they're a very common type of Navi and they think that we'd laugh at them otherwise…?"

"It could be, true… I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason."

"Ping – peng – pang – pung – pong!"

"Who's that?" Yuuichirou wondered.

"Dunno."

"Not me." Punk admitted.

"Punk? I thought you were in an investigation with Meijin – san." Obihiro looked surprised.

"Didn't ya call me here?"

"Nope! I did. Wanna shake the brawl?"

"Shake the brawl? Who's there?"

"Your worst nightmare: the reviewer!"

"No way!" Punk uttered.

"And the anti-rock press!"

"Fuck."

"Anti-rock press…?" Obihiro looked skeptical.

"That's got to be some parody." Yuuichirou drily muttered.

"Boom and not boom!"

"Show your hide!"

"I'll show your scores in the magazines!"

"I ain't a heavy metal star!"

"You are and will be!"

"Don't screw me~!"

"I'm taunting ya~!"

"Show your damned hide!"

"Hah! The Corvus has come to reap ya~!"

"Shit. Evil Corvus!" Obihiro cursed.

"Yessir! I've come to punk a Punk!"

"That pun's LAME~!"

Evil Corvus showed up and floated down to face Punk while chuckling: Punk was already annoyed.

"Oreichalcos Boundary! Engage!"

"Shit."

"My HP: 2000! Yours: 1950! We're close!"

"Huh! At least I have no particular weakness."

"Yeah. Ya should be glad of it. I'm "Normal" too… Since Cyclone is the "Wind" guy… Yet! All non-elemental Battle Cards get the 75% bonus: 50% from the Boundary and 25% from me."

"That can't be good."

"Starting to crave your own grave, Punk The Soul?"

"W-what the hell is that?"

"Your rocker nickname~…" He chuckled.

"This fucking guy…!"

"That's more like you." He sneered next.

"Bring it on!"

"Heh! Platinum Meteor! 9 will fall in your 3x3 area… Each is worth 90 but with the bonus… 157! Per 9… 1413! If they all hit, you, though…"

"Fuck. Mad Roller! 350!"

"Uack!"

Punk compacted into his "Mad Roller" form and rolled down the slide to jump and hit Evil Corvus: the blow made him crash against a decorative column and he groaned as the meteors began to fall down: Punk dodged them all by madly rolling around before returning to his normal form: Evil Corvus growled.

"Che! I lost to Alex but I'm not gonna lose to a decaying punk star!"

"Wha~t? Take it back, ya!"

"Impact Cannon! 420! Eat this!"

"Whoa! Fuck! Groah! That hurt A LOT."

"No wonder." Obihiro muttered.

"So! The punk hacker… Wanna come to my place?"

"No."

"Whoa! What dryness. You're the Dry Hacker!"

"Guess that."

"Mad Vulcan X! 17 per round: 15 rounds! 255! GO~!"

"Shield and Chain!"

Punk formed a shield and then shot the chain to grab Evil Corvus and throw him against the Boundary.

"Heck. That was worth 200 points! Air Spread X! 87 per 3! 261!"

Air Corvus shot three attacks at Punk but he didn't seem to mind them that much.

"Double Go-Round! Each is 250! Eat these!"

"Hah! Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"Fuck. I got cocky."

"Heh, heh, heh! Big Grenade! 105 per 3! 315!"

"Ugruh! This hurt. But I'm not gonna give it up so easily!"

"420, 261 and 315… 996… Over 50%! I've suffered 550… It's barely about 25% of my HP, so… There's still time to dance a mad dance of death! So? Will you?"

"You go dance that!"

"Heh! Break Saber X! 437! Eat this!"

"Gruoh! 1433… I gotta be careful!"

"Heh! Muramasa Blade! It can't be powered up but since I've suffered over 500 of damage… I can use it to bring your total HP loss up to 1933 and then finish it up! Go~!"

"Super North-Wind! And you're not in the Holy Panel anymore! Double Go-Round!"

"Muramasa Blade~! Gruo~h!"

"Kugru~h!"

Both hit each other and they recoiled: Punk had a large cutting wound on his chest and Evil Corvus got two curved cuts across his shoulders: he landed on the ground and groaned.

"Shit. The guy has lost 1933 and I've lost 1050… Bah! I've gone up over 50% but this guy is at the last!"

"D-damn it."

"Evil Claws! Each is 75! Eat these!"

He drew his claws and plunged them into Punk: he collapsed with a groan and Evil Corvus laughed.

"I did it! THE Punk has fallen!"

"Che." Obihiro grumbled.

"See ya and beware of the flu~! Hah, hah, hah!"

"Heck. They're becoming stronger." Yuuichirou cursed.

"I know, sir, but… It's not like we can do much, sir."

"I know. Huff. I need something to shake off this bad mood. Some fresh air will do… Tend to Punk's wounds…"

"Yes, sir. Come here, Punk. I'm going to repair those."

"M-my bad… Ugh!" He groaned.

Obihiro sighed and began to repair the damage to Punk's body.

"Is there no end to this? I hope they have enough soon and stop coming one after the other."

_I'm starting to be fed up with the whole deal!_

11:37 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Huff! I think that that newbie has set his eyes on me and he looks like he's the lustful type… Akemi! Can't you do a background check with the police database?"

"Sure. Something reeks: that Mango guy of 2 years ago was blackmailing the former Auxiliary Chief of Staff because he'd seen him in a club… And now we have another dangerous guy? Huff. This TV Station…"

"I know. There's not serious screening."

"OK! Wait for a while… Ah! Burner Man sent us the broadcast."

"I've got time before the 12:00 PM news… I gotta be 5 minutes earlier so I can listen to part of it and then continue while they emit the news."

"Roger."

Suzuki had been chatting with Akemi as she stepped into the small office room where she apparently stored her make-up stuff: she placed the PET in the charger and interacted with the laptop.

"… V-B-N! Let's keep on! "Hey, Boss! Whaddya think of my full moon disguise?" … "It fits with cha personality… A very stony face!" … "Get ready, you two! The time's come to test another invention by Professor Bacterio!" … "Huh! Phase change: new moon!" … Mr. Super grabs a spaceship model from the desk… "I'm going to test another of those scientific advancements… The manual Challenger flight with eye-guided moon-landing! HOP!"… TOING! "That wasn't fun! It was an astronomic attack!" … "Alright! Face this wall for the test!" … "Devil! The execution wall!" … "It's the Cerebellum-Displacement Beam!"… "I~ARGH!" … "From now on your head and arms will obey the cerebellum orders on their own!" … "Well then! My cerebellum orders them to go have a rest! A~GH!"… "Total success! Success!"…"

"Your limbs go and move on their own…? Yikes."

"… "Yes. Mr. Super promised that he'd place a well-seated head in charge of this department."… BLAF! BLOM! "A~H!"…"

"Guess the head landed in front of the guy."

"… "Yes! He suddenly yelled over the phone…" … "Total collapse! He's muttering something about a head… He must've hit it when falling down…" … "GJGJGJ!"… "How lucky, dear! Mortadelo's in a meeting… I won't have to bear the whole day with his attempts to pinch me!" … "Ah! Look, look!" … "What? AH! I can't avoid him at all! At all! I~H!" … The arms chased Ms. Irma! "GLGLGLGL!" … "Ofelia's lost consciousness! Call the car-tow!"… "Why! What an effect! Instead of a _Mortadelo_ he seems to be a _Longanizo_! And a black one, even… Gonna go fetch the head… It's not that useful, but… Well! Found it! Heck! I didn't think his brain was this heavy."…"

"It's a pun, I guess…"

"… Note for the public: Mortadelo's name is a corruption of "mortadela" or "mortadella" but written in a male manner… And "longanizo" is a corruption of "sausage"… Given how the guy is tall and thin…"

"Huff."

"… "So? Did the attack wear off!" … "Yes… But don't bring it up! I had a frightening vision… I'm sure the previous boss is to blame for his stupid acts! There are guys without head!" … "Yeah, I know… In exchange there are which have two… Well, yes. He suddenly fell into the ground while being tight and…" … "And he keeps on saying something about heads… I think he ate a bad garlic head!" … "Here's your head! Count the eyes and ears to see if you're missing something!" … "Brrr! My hands! I also want my HANDS!" … "PFFF!"… "Ah! I feel bad… very bad…" … "Well. Why don't you remain standing?" … "You know it? I've got the conjuring "hobby"… I'm going to make a hand-game to distract myself…" … "Ah! Very well done, yeah!" … "How'd you do it?"… "Yes. It was very sudden: he got tight again!" … "But his muttering's different… Instead of head he says something about hands…" …"Did you see? Your hands obeyed your desires!" … "And my feet too! Look, look!" … TROMP! TROMP! TROMP! "OW, OW, O~W!"… "Mr. Mortadelo: stop kicking Professor Bacterio! Well, well! We'll use that ability to carry out an important mission!"… I'm teasing our public!"

"Oh yes? I wonder what it is…" Akemi wondered as she returned.

"So?"

"Convicted of attempted rape 6 times…"

"I knew it. Did you warn the police?"

"Sure. They're on their way here."

"Good. Keep on listening to that while I go take care of the make-up."

Suzuki left and Akemi calmly sat inside of her PET.

"… "Don't say more! We need to invade Ameroupe and gain their strength!"… "Filling up the Treasury Form at the first attempt and without asking anyone!" … "No, that's not it! You need to keep an eye out and figure out who drinks my whisky while I'm not there! You can place the head to spy anyplace and make your hands jump over the culprit from the most unexpected spots! Get to work!" … "Got an idea! You hide the head in this soccer ball and my hands will be ready to fall upon the ruffian like steel hooks!"… "Hum! Let's try. But I don't trust that. Alright, my head! Get into that ball!" … "Heh heh! Looks like a champagne cork cap but it works! You stay there watching… Hands! Hide in the Boss' rubbish bin! Magnificent: all's ready! Let's go wait in our department!" …"

"That's some plan."

"… "Well, yes, Mr. Staff Chief… I've been told some of our agents lack the proper preparations…" … "Oh, no, Mr. General Director! I can ensure you that all of our agents are very full and… and… and… A~H!" … "Whoa! That's a cool soccer ball! I'm going to kick it a bit!"… "OW! YOU BRUTE~! YOU ROUGH GUY~!" … "Devil! It talks! There's gotta be a parrot inside and I need to bring it out! Alright! Someone lend me a hand! I~H!"… "That's it! The guy kicks me and then starts bawling!" … "Hu, hu, hu! I saw a head and hands without a body~!"… "Hah, hah, hah! We've seen guys without head or arms!" … "Devil! It's starting to become an epidemic!"… "They told me that if I keep on drinking alcohol… Hic… I'll have a gigantic "terrible delirium"… Hic! Devil! It's true! Hic! Visions of the Beyond! Hic! The "delirium" thing! Outta my sight, damn you! Hic!"… BANG!"

"Trouble." Akemi sighed.

"… "UA~H!"… "And from now on I'll only drink distilled water!" … "Rapid, Doctor! It's been a shotgun which could've beaten an elephant! Carry out an emergency cure!"… "A~H! R-right away… I cured a head which bounced alone! Hah, hah! And hands which dances! Hi, hi, hi! I'm going to cure a rump which tours France! Hyah, hyah, hyah!"… "Hey! We're fed up with your machine! You return us to normal or…!" … "Alright, alright! Don't get hysterical! See, there? Another discharge of the Cerebellum Displacing Beam and the effects are nullified!" … "GNF!"… "Well! We can go back, Mortadelo!"… "DEVIL! A THOUSAND DEVILS!"…"

"What happened now?" She rolled her eyes.

"This time the legs and waist moved on their own!"

"How maddening."

"No wonder." Suzuki returned and took out an earphone from the right ear.

"They caught the bird, I see."

"Yeah. They should really screen the staff better and not allow for these favors. Really…"

"… "Don't run, no, you bearded mule! We're going to make pieces out of you without the need of crappy-cerebellum-beams!" … "Calm down, you camel fetlocks! Go get sown by a squint dressmaker!" … "I come from seeing the psychiatric… He told me I won't see any more loose heads or arms or weird stuff…!"… END!"

"Camel fetlocks…" Suzuki sighed.

"You gotta have a lot of patience to not abandon all hope."

"Two chapters left! Wait for them, our public! Heh, heh, heh!"

"V! B! N! Off-air!"

"Huff. Alright. Let's continue with our work and hope nothing tragic happens in the meanwhile…! That hacker could strike back…!"


	16. Chapter 16: Cool guy VS Cool girl

**Chapter 16: Cool guy VS Cool girl**

17:50 PM (Japan Time), Thursday March the 3rd…

"… Phew! The homework's over."

"Yeah. You did well, Meiru – chan."

"The trimester exams will soon come…! They're FRIGHTENING."

"But you can clear them!"

"I know. But one can't avoid being defeatist…"

"Heh, heh, heh. So! The hero's girlfriend's waiting for a cool guy to hang out with tonight?"

"How rude! Who's there?"

"Gray Thunderbolt!"

"Gray Thunderbolt? Andy – kun told me about cha."

"No wonder! We're Fated Rivals, missy!"

"So? What do you want?"

"I'll have a showdown with ya!"

"Fine! I won't lose to the likes of cha."

"Don't worry! I'm more like _yaoi_ myself so I got no interest."

"Fine. That's relieving to know, Mr. Cool Guy."

"Heh, heh, heh. That's it, Miss Cool Girl!"

Meiru and Roll had been talking in their house when Gray Thunderbolt snuck into her PC: Roll wasn't too surprised while Gray Thunderbolt looked rather amused.

"I've got 3000 HP!"

"Well. I've got 2500 myself."

"Heh. Well then! Showdown! Oreichalcos Boundary!"

"So! All of your Electrical Attribute Battle Cards get a 75% power-up, huh?" Roll wasn't impressed.

"Yessir. 100, 000 Volts! 190 points!"

"Battle Chip, Lightning Rod! Slot In!"

The attack got absorbed by the Lightning Rod and he got annoyed.

"Heck. Not cha too…!"

"It's about to rain trouble." Meiru giggled.

"Oh yeah?" He looked unimpressed.

"Heh. Reversal of roles, Gray – chan!"

"T-this GAL!" He grumbled.

"How cultured of you." She taunted.

"Huff. _Aibou_ won't stand insulting words, so…" He fumed.

"I'm watching, Gray." Kuroban warned over the radio.

"Che. Have I become that unreliable?"

"You cheated."

"Nya~h!"

"Gray. Behave."

"Huff! Rocket Knuckle! 200 per knuckle! Go~!"

"Battle Chip, Barrier!"

"Che!"

"Gray. Cool it down. Or they'll defeat you before you expect it." Kuroban insisted.

"CHE! I don't intend to lose! I got rid of that crybaby and I can now exploit Gemini's full power…! No – one is gonna stop me!"

"Oh? A conspiracy~?" Meiru grinned.

"Yikes. Spoke too much…"

"Gray…!"

"I know, I know!"

"Let's go! Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Slot In!"

"Dream Sword!"

"Holy Panel!"

"Well. At least you get 250 HP of damage, Mr. Fifty Shades of Gray."

"Isn't that ironic?" He rolled his eyes.

"Why?" Kuroban asked.

"Huff. Check it out in Wikipedia."

"Alright, if you say so…"

"Plasma Gun X! 210! Go!"

"Whoa! That tickled." Roll giggled.

"Guess that." He smirked.

"Elec Slash! 262 points!"

"Shirahadori, Slot In!"

"Crap."

"I edited it! It returns the same damage you tried to inflict to me!"

"Grah! 262 for me… Crafty!"

"… Ah. I see the irony." Kuroban replied at that moment.

"Don't you?" Meiru giggled.

"Guess that, Sakurai."

"Jeez. It isn't half-funny to begin with, Meiru – chan."

"Stun Knuckle! 227!"

"Holy Panel, Slot In!"

"Crap! I got tricked again…! 250 and 262… 512…! Bah…"

"Let's go~! Panel Format, Slot In! Corn Shot, Triple Slot In! Corn Party! 40 per round! But since Elec is weak to Grass in Net Battles… 80 per round: total of 16 rounds… 1280! I've lost 323!"

"Wha~t?" He gasped in disbelief.

"Go~!"

Roll formed the Program Advance and began to bombard Gray Thunderbolt with several explosions: he groaned and then a small remote plane-like Virus formed.

"S-Stealth Laser X! 122 per 3… 366! E-eat this!"

"Kyah! Huff! I got caught with the guard down… 689!"

"Huff, huff…!"

Gray Thunderbolt had managed to counter with an attack and Roll's Program Advance finally ended so he panted.

"Heck… 1280 and 512… 1792…! Over 50%...! Terrific…!"

"That's why I told you that you were lowering the guard, Gray."

"Then bring me the Great Wall of Choina to lift the guard!"

"Gray. This is not the moment to be sarcastic."

"Mummy Hand X! 350! And it has "Paralyze" too! I can chain in the Inazuma Head X! 455! Lightning will fall at random in your area's whole surface! Hah! How's that for a combo, Missy Roll?"

"Yikes! Then I'll have lost a total of 1494 points…!"

"Crap." Meiru muttered.

The Mummy Hand popped from beneath the ground and paralyzed Roll while electrocuting her: lightning fell down next and she got electrocuted again: she suddenly smirked.

"W-what's with that face?"

"The bad boy fell for it!"

"Fell for what?"

"Muramasa Blade~!"

"NOT THAT AGAIN! Gruo~h!"

"Huff. Gray…"

Gray Thunderbolt got hit by the Muramasa Blade and he suddenly looked psychotic and uncontrolled.

"2292…! I've lost close to 2300 and this chick's still so fresh…!"

"Gray!"

"You've gotta cool it down if ya want to win."

"Flash Spear X! 70 per 5 hits! 350!"

"Kyah! Well! 1844 but I can still fight on."

"Program Advance! Iron Shell, Triple Slot In!"

"Parallel Shell!"

The Program Advance hit Gray Thunderbolt and he suddenly vanished while leaving a statue of "Raichuu" behind: he began to shoot _shuriken_ at Roll but she disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving a statue of the "Kireihana" PKMN behind: both began to shoot a row of _shuriken_ at each other until they both collapsed into the ground, panting.

"Heck. Both of us had loaded the "Bodyguard" Program Advance! Each one inflicted 2000 points of damage to each other…! A draw! It's a draw…!" Gray Thunderbolt groaned.

"Heh! I've learnt from tricks from Netto, cha see~… And Kage – kun bothered to give me some insight too~… Mr. Conspiracy~!" Meiru giggled at him.

"Yeah, yeah… That nickname doesn't suit me… I'm off!"

"Huff, huff… A desperate gamble but… It worked!"

"Yeah! Now I only need to show this to Dekao. _Let the jaws hit the floor_."

"Jeez. That's a parody of the Drowning Pool _Bodies_ song…"

"Tee, heh, heh."

"Guts, guts! Guts Man to the rescue, de guts!"

"Guts Man? Who told cha to come? Hmmm?"

"Huh… Guts… A short guy… Looked like a wolf fan, guts…"

"Ah! That's gotta be Leon – kun's lil bro, Sieg… He thought it'd be funny to see us battling Gray Thunderbolt but didn't time it well enough…"

"Meiru – chan! Ya owe me one!"

"Not at all. The battle's over. It was a draw."

"E~H? You can FIGHT?"

"Yeah. Why not? This is the 21st century, cha know. And I'm not Princess Peach or Princess Zelda. Stop being so old-fashioned, Dethroned Emperor Wannabe: He Who Was Refused."

"E~H?" He gasped.

"_Bye-bye_. See ya tomorrow morning!"

"Meiru – cha~n!"

BEEP!

"Go back."

"Guts…"

"Tee, heh, heh. Now that Gray fellow is going to have nightmares!"

"Jeez. Don't be like that, Meiru – chan!"

"Too bad, Miss Roll! I'm inspired!"

"Jeez. How lovely, really…!"

17:04 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… The alien sky… It makes you feel fascinated, eh?"

"Sure… The first humans to travel further past the Moon and into the edges of the Solar System… Only a few guys out there realize it…"

Umisama and Kazebun were standing in a dome-shaped room which thick Plexiglas windows set on it which allowed them to see a clear night sky filled with stars: the room also had some armchairs for people to sit down and look out.

"This planet's but rock and ice… There's nothing… It's like Mars yet no human proxy has ever come here… Voyager and Pioneer shot past this zone decades ago."

"Sure… The Prince finally decided to use Philippines Time here as in the Earth Base…" Kazebun muttered.

"Yeah. I know. This base is wide and Wave Roads cover a radius of 150 km around here but it's so dull… It's better to spend most of the time on Earth…"

"Sure is… Play the latest broadcast to kill the dull mood…"

"OK. Let's be ready for some madness."

"… "Alright, Gorbachov! Tell Mortadelo and Filemón to come test another invention of Professor Bacterio!" … "Meow!" … "Heh, heh! That charming cat sure is useful! Ever since it came here those two come sans protest. See? Here are the fellows! Ah! It was a good idea when recruiting Mustafar to allow him to bring his cat along to pass on messages…" … "Meow!"… "Yes, Gorbacho! I know! I not let meek agents escape!" … "Well, boys! It's about these batteries! When you use them no – one will see you!" … "Logical! Dead are buried and no-one sees them anymore!" … "No, sir! These batteries are stuffed in the inner hearing: and a simple snap of the fingers allows you to create Electronic-Nerve-Therapy Waves which makes you turn invisible!" … "Come on! Hah, hah, hah, hah! And who do you think will be the lambs to stuff those in the ear?" … Mustafar draws the giant scimitar and they gasp. "Be~h!"…"

"They speak too fast." Umisama sighed.

"Sure…"

"Yo. The mood's up today?" Netsuhonoo joined them.

"Guess that." Kazebun shrugged.

"… "OK! Let's go! Near the ear, near it!"… "But, listen… They're too big! They don't fit in the hole!" … "They do! All's accounted for! Let's not waste any more time!"… "Ah! No! We refuse! You're feeling cocky if you thought that…! T-that…!"... Mustafar looms over them again!"

"Mustafar sure is a helpful chap." Netsuhonoo laughed.

"Obviously."

"… PLOC! PLOC! PLOC! It enters, it does!" … "OW! OW! OUWA~H!" … "Ready! You snap once to activate invisible mode and snap twice to become visible! But if I look like you two I'd rather stay invisible! Ho, ho, ho! Mr. Super! Order them to get me out of here! Order them!"…"

"Shah, shah, shah! They made his beard hang from a horizontal pole!"

"… "Enough acting like idiots! You'll use that invisible state to snake into the "F. E. A.", the Federal Espionage Agency, and get the "Pololo" project plans! Move it!" … "Hum! I'm going to test if you can erase yourself off the face of the Earth!" … "Wow! Boss! It's true! You've vanished! Today's a great day for humanity!"… "Huff I can't bear this ammunition box anymore! My back's protesting! Gonna rest a bit… AUMPF!"… "OUWAH!"…"How odd! Didn't ya hear a yell, dude?" … "Me~? No, no! It's gotta be the stomach, man!"… "Well. I better get moving like I was an Alicante guy…" … "Bo… Boss? Why, Boss! You'll need Size 57 shoes from now on, huh?"… "Dear! What pain! Dear me~!" … "Gonna test myself… Heh! I don't reflect in the mirror! I'm either invisible or a vampire!" … "Hum! It says that smoking disgusts you further than the R. C. D. E. soccer club… Not sure if it's true, but… I'd rather spit it out!" … "Devil! What stinging! OUWAH! MY EYE~!"… "Are you mad or what, dude? The bidet isn't used for the eye, man!"… "Alright! Let's go the "FEA" HQ! I'll test the thing now in the street to see…"…"

"The initials are a joke. "Fea" is "ugly"!" Netsuhonoo laughed.

"What's with this ruckus?"

"Yo. Kisei."

A new guy joined them.

He was about the age and height of the other guys: his hair had been tinted green like Eisei's but it was more neatly combed than Eisei's own: his face had some marks of previous cuts and blows from some time ago and which had already healed.

His clothes consisted on a black leather jacket, a lush green sweater, a pair of slightly worn-down jeans and sneakers.

"The Golden Star broadcasts again…?" He sighed.

"Sure. Maybe you prefer commanding Pikmin and exploring caves?"

"Jeez. I know I've been looking at a _Pikmin 2_ play-through but…"

"... "Huh! A black cat! I'd rather walk over the road!" … "Heh! You're more superstitious than a _torero_ and Galician gypsy, Boss!" BLOM! "B-Boss! You wouldn't have happened to be there…! No…!"… A vehicle with a heavy steel sphere to smash the pavement was working there! "Yeah! I was "there"! And I'm embedded here! Get me outta here~!" … "Hey! Thanks for the help, dude, but forget it! The ball's faster! Devil! Where did that small guy come out from?" … "What a blow! Aw! That of the invisibility is starting to feel fat!" … "I'd rather say crushed, Boss!" … "The "FEA" HQ is on the 8th Floor. Let's become invisible and go there!" … "Heh! We appear and disappear like the ex-manager of that bee-something show!"… "There's the stairs…" … "No, no! I'll use the elevator: it's better!" … "Huh! It was closing! I barely made it on time! I dunno what's wrong with these elevators but… They're so uncomfortable! Like they stab you!" … "Mortadelo! You OK?" … "Not at all! Totally crushed! OW!"… "Heh, heh. The sentry didn't detect us. Let's go to the safe and get the plans!" … "LooK! The Boss is opening it! I'll use the chance to stuff my hand inside and pick them!" … "Good luck, Boss!"… "Aha! This is it! When he looks elsewhere I'll take them out and…!" … BLAM!..."

"Trouble. Big trouble." Kisei sighed.

"Heh, heh, heh!" Netsuhonoo chuckled.

"… "The Top-Secret documents are safe. Back to work!" … "So, Boss… Did you get them? Did you?"… "I'm tightly holding into them!" … "Then let's go back!" … "I can't! Ow! He closed the door before I could get my arm out! Open it up somehow! OW! It's totally crushed!" … "Relax, Boss! What matters is that we got them and Mr. Super will reward us! See what I said? A mint lollipop for each one! Isn't he generous? Look! It's Agent Cirilo! Let's become invisible again and joke around! Let's stuff a finger into each ear and see how he reacts! There, there!" …"There, there!" … "Devil! What's this? There's no one! The illness itself makes me suffer hallucinations!" … "What illness, Cirilo?" … "Don't come any closer! It's the Beastly Anthropoid Smallpox! It's super infectious! See? The grains have begun to pop out! And they sting A LOT!" … "Mortadelo! Filemón! I've been told you've been seen picking Bacterio, tie him, gag him and stuff an invisible battery on him! What did you do with him?"… "We? Nothing! We've been fishing here all day long!" … "MMM! MMM!"… "I gotta be short-sighted 'cause I don't see the bait but when I bite I feel that I'm eating something…" … They used him as bait for a shark to eat! Next day: the last chapter! Mayhem's waiting! V!"

"B!"

"N!"

"V-B-N! Off air!"

"Huff. You gotta have a steel will to prevent ya from going mad."

"Guess that!"

"Huff. Really…" Kazebun grumbled.

"I know. One ends up fed up." Umisama sighed.

"That "Barbatos" guy shouldn't underestimate us!" Netsuhonoo grinned.

"Don't get cocky, Netsuhonoo! Or else… Trouble will knock at the door for sure… This guy, really…" Kisei grumbled.

19:19 PM (Japan Time)…

"… I'm home."

"Ah! Father."

"Welcome back."

"Huff. The excitement died to be replaced by impatience, Jake and Kei…"

"Really?"

"No wonder!"

Daikani stepped into an apartment and was greeted by two very similar looking teen boys who were his sons.

Jake had short combed black hair and brown irises.

He looked around 16 or 17 years old and appealed to be over a meter and seventy tall.

He wore a middle school uniform.

Kei's hair and eyes were identical and the only difference was that he was about five inches taller than Jake and his face appealed as being more mature.

"Why it's no wonder, Kei – niisan?"

"We finally get to see his hide and he then vanishes and goes off the radar again… Wouldn't you be disappointed?"

"Huh. You've got a point."

"Yet they've left a trail behind…"

Daikani sat down on an armchair in the living room and both brothers also sat down in the sofa.

"… They stopped by the NSA and hacked some data… It seems it has some relevance regarding Shunoros…"

"Satellite imagery of their new base…?" Jake wondered.

"It's logical." Kei shrugged.

"Yet… Using a lesser Demon name… It seems to me that they're trying to believe that they're stronger than they were before…"

"Lesser or not, a Demon is a Demon." Jake wasn't surprised.

"Miss Slur doesn't have a clue, either?" Kei asked next.

"It doesn't look like it. She looks mistrusting of the whole ordeal: she still believes their behavior is a red herring to hide someone else, a puppeteer pulling the strings…"

"So they still could be a foreign government agent?"

"We can't discard anything at this stage."

"Obviously."

"By the way… Is Oscar OK?"

"Of course. He's as energetic as always. He sends his greetings."

"He could drop by one day with his Navi companion."

"I did suggest to him and Alex liked the idea but he seemed to feel like he was abusing of my good faith… Or maybe…"

"He sees you as a fatherly figure too… And he'd rather think you care for him, which you do, yet…" Kei realized.

"I know." Daikani sighed.

"He might feel jealous of us, even…?" Jake gasped.

"To a certain degree… He was an orphan, after all. Until I got assigned him as my subordinate over a year ago he hadn't had a nice life…" Daikani sighed again.

"Maybe he relies in Alex to have someone to speak about what's bothering him…?"

"I wouldn't be surprised… I think he also has some meetings with Vice President _Noir_ to help him…"

"If only he could live on without being tormented by those…"

"Yes. That would be good, yet… It isn't that easy."

The three of them remained silent for some minutes before Daikani stood up and walked over a radio set to turn it on and let some music try to lift the mood.

"By the way… A new Gen V PKMN was revealed… Meloetta… It has two forms and it's a singer… We're only pending the "P2 Lab PKMN"… But it could take a while to be revealed…" Kei tried to change the topic.

"I see."

"From what it's begun to be publically told about _Pocket Monsters Black 2_ and _White 2_… New areas of the Isshu Region will be explored… It's all very spoon-fed right now but if we wait a while… I guess that, as the release comes closer, they'll release more stuff… There were talks about new Gym Leaders and something named Poké Wood."

"Of course."

"But, really… It's got to be a nightmare to bear with those broadcasts, right, Father?"

"Huff. Of course. They're so illogical… I guess I'm not the only one who gets fed up… We're about to tell them to record them and made them available for download: this way everyone can choose if they want to hear to them or not."

"That would be smart, I guess." Jake shrugged.

"But what surprised me is that on this year's Q4 we're going to get _Biohazard 6_… And it'd seem it'll involve a large-scale meeting of characters… It'll keep on with the style of _5_ and _4_ yet it'd seem the forces at work here will be deadlier than Umbrella was, even…"

"Well. If Wesker and Tricell could develop the "Uroboros" and were planning to spread it across the world…" Jake brought up.

"Hum. You've got a point."

"And _Halo 4_ is said to come out by that time too… We'll finally get to play as the Master Chief again and explore a Forerunner planet… More stuff will be revealed on the summer E3 fair, as usual… It's been 5 years since _Halo 3_… We've seen the fight to defend New Mombasa, the fall of Reach, revisited Installation 04 with the _Combat Anniversary_ remake…"

"Heh. I see that you've got plenty of things to look forward to."

"Of course, Father." Kei grinned.

"2012 is going to be a big gaming year, too. _Pocket Monsters, Biohazard, Halo_…" Jake listed.

Daikani's PET beeped and he calmly checked it out.

"Ah. A transmission encryption program… Zero sent it to all members to ensure that our transmissions are kept secure… Better to prevent than to heal, after all…"

"And let's not forget about _Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance _which will feature Raiden and adventures past the MGS4 era… All enemies will be cyborgs… Maybe they will replace the collapsed SOP System…"

"It could be. We shouldn't speculate too much or pay too much attention to baseless rumors or "leaks"… One tends to believe them too much and then they get disappointed that they weren't true and blame the game makers for changing things yet it's their own blame for not realizing those were rumors or fake information… People should be careful with what they read and believe…" Kei warned him.

"Jeez. I knew that! I'm almost 17, ya know, Kei – niisan!"

"Well. As Father said, better to prevent than to heal…"

"Huff. I know!" Jake fumed.

"We don't know anything new about _Metroid_: true that it hasn't been two years yet since the release of _Metroid: Other M_ but… Well. Maybe they're saving the surprise up."

"The _Prime _series were cool. But a 2D platform game would be good too."

"Sure. It reminds one of the old times… We had _Fusion_ and _Zero Mission_ plenty of years ago…" Kei grinned.

"Huh? What are those flashes coming from the street?"

Daikani suddenly rushed to the balcony and opened the curtains a bit to look out: he then lifted his eyebrows and closed them.

"Eisei was there, playing with a mirror… Guess it was a joke. Or maybe he wanted to vent off his mood after his match of a few hours ago against that girl Navi, Roll…"

"Yeah. It ended up in a draw, right?" Jake remembered.

"Yes, it did."

"As long as it's just a joke… Besides, the Prince did tell you that you could pick your own road and he doesn't have a grudge."

"No. I'm not so sure about Laser Man but I'd rather say he focuses it all on Oscar. The Prince must be about to explode if he keeps on acting like such a huge moron. It drove me mad!"

"Laser Man? So that's the name of the Navi piloting the robot named "Dullahan", then?"

"Yes. He was involved in some murky affair some years ago and Oscar was there too… Laser Man wanted to run but Oscar wanted to stand and fight until they were captured… But I don't know if it was the police or some other party… He never talked much about that. Guess they'd been cooperating nicely until then…" Daikani fumed.

"Well! In short: things could get maddening before we know it. We should be careful." Kei summarized.

"Let's not be so defeatist and try to be positive, Father."

"You're right, my sons. Well. I better go have a shower… Later."

"Well! We managed to improve the mood, eh, Jake?"

"Sure, Kei – niisan… Let's be positive and go for it!"


	17. Chapter 17: Tree-house

**Chapter 17: Tree-house**

17:56 PM (Japan Time), Friday March the 4th…

"… So?"

"… Will you tell us?"

"… Why did you gather us here?"

"Yeah. Why don't you explain?"

"There's gotta be a treasure hunt!"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

Netto, Saito, Hikawa, Meiru and Dekao had been gathered by Yaito into her tree-house and they looked suspicious as to why they'd been summoned there: Yaito looked up to something.

"I have a bad feeling." Glyde sighed in defeat.

"Desu…" Ice Man looked nervous.

"Guts…" Guts Man seemed to foresee trouble as well.

"Jeez." Roll sighed.

"Well! I know it." She suddenly announced.

"You know what?" Meiru asked with a hint of suspicion.

"The identity of the omen…!"

"Omen? What omen?" Saito looked skeptical.

"The one orbiting 'round us, cha know…"

"Huh? What?" Dekao didn't get it.

"Get to the point, Yaito!" Netto protested.

"We've got homework to do, you know! 4th year doesn't give you a break, see!" Hikawa grumbled.

"Its name is… Omen Man!"

"How original." Everyone (save Dekao) muttered with sarcasm.

"Tee, heh, heh! Sponsored by Uncle Merton!"

"Don't mix in Superintendent Oda and his weird humor."

"Yeah. That's the last thing we'd need."

"Yo! Did you call for Uncle Merton's favorite nephew?"

"Trouble. With capital T."

"Hey! It's Mister Oda!"

"Yo! Ooyama – kun and company. Miss Ayanokouji told me you needed some of Uncle Merton's family humor to cheer you up."

"I knew it." Saito grimly muttered.

"Lovely." Netto sighed.

Superintendent Oda stepped into the tree-house while lifting his hat to greet them: Dekao grinned, Yaito giggled and the other four sighed in defeat.

"So! A chum walks into a pub and says he wants both an Ireland Beer and a mop. Anyone guess why~?"

"We knew that one: 'cause they're a skeleton and what they drinks drops into the floor." Netto grumbled.

"Bravo, Hikari Jr. – kun. I knew you remembered these~!"

"How couldn't I? Bearing with them 5 years ago…"

"I should think I was lucky to be on the hospital back then." Saito muttered.

"Don't be so grim, Hikari Sr. – kun!"

"Superintendent Oda, sir… That humor…" Meiru began to protest.

"Is traditional, Sakurai – kun!"

"But…" Hikawa argued.

"But it's charming too, Hikawa – kun!"

"Tee, heh, heh."

"Someone save us." They muttered.

"Huff, huff… I made it on time? Where's the Mongolia spy?"

"Huh… I think we got trolled, Miquel – kun."

"Why. Kage – kun, is it? Welcome to the party, my chum."

"W-what?"

"Run for your sanity, Miquel. Yaito baited ya."

Kage had rushed in along with Andy (who sported street clothes consistent on a long-sleeved grayish shirt, jeans and sneakers) only for the four of them to sigh and Oda to greet him with a grin.

"Ayanokouji – san! What does this mean?" Kage protested.

"It means that cha should listen to Uncle Merton's family humor, see~…"

"Heck. It's gotta be worse than Ibañez's humor." He groaned.

"Lovely." Andy grumbled.

"And I was telling Aunt Mariona that a walking spinning groaning frog lurked on her farm's barn and didn't allow the cow to sleep and…"

"Earth, swallow us." The six of them muttered.

"And?" Dekao seemingly thought it was a real tale to begin with.

"And thus we had to call Anti Frog Chum."

"Oho! He had some cool moves like in _anime_ series?"

"Sure. He said "frog, anti frog, chum" and the frog got exiled into the Frog World where it'd come out from."

"Frog World…!" Andy slapped his face out of exasperation.

"I was right, by Moran!" Kage grumbled.

"I told ya." Netto sighed.

"You sure did, Hikari – kun… Why don't we make a run for it?"

"I guess she's locked us in." Meiru sighed.

"Lovely." Andy directed an annoyed glare at Yaito.

"Ya wanna go out with me to the ballroom, cutie~?"

"No, thank you." He drily and politely replied.

"Yo!"

"Eisei? Whaddya doing here?"

"That gal called me, see. Not like I could refuse: that'd been rude!"

"Yaito! How the heck did you find him?" Netto asked.

"Oh, well. He delivered a prank mail the other day and it turned out the address was valid, so…"

"So? Did you tell Mr. Cassini he was a persistent guy?" Kage drily asked Eisei.

"Yeah. Italians are like that! But be glad it wasn't Falcone's half-brother!"

"Or one of Ra's al Ghul's pawns…" Saito drily told him.

"Who knows? Well. I'll just listen in."

"… thus the envoys of the Crow-Snake World came forth when the clock chimed for the 10,000th time ever since it'd been built and…"

"That reminds me of a _Magic Kaito_ chapter, the one where Kudou Shinichi is firstly introduced… Kaito Kid was gonna steal the arrows of a clock tower but he got tipped that that night would be the 20,000th time the clock would chime…" Hikawa muttered.

"…the lovely, double lovely and triple lovely dancing flowers which…"

"Isn't that a pun on the "Kireihana" PKMN?" Kage wondered.

"I stake anything that it is." Andy muttered.

"…walking, stomping and crushing footsteps which…"

"…make the bad guys run for it, right?" Dekao was getting thrilled.

"Sure, sure." The skeptical group muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh." Eisei chuckled as he leant his back against a wall.

"Tee, heh, heh. I'm a genius!" Yaito giggled.

"Huff." The skeptical club sighed.

"…evil, blessed and repulsive doors which…"

"How can doors be evil, blessed and repulsive, anyway?" Andy asked to no-one in particular.

"They're a cocktail!" Eisei laughed at his joke.

"How devious of you." Kage drily told him.

"Huff. I'm fed up with this show already."

Andy picked Kage's PET in a whim and inputted some commands: the door buzzed and unlocked so the skeptical club ran for it while Dekao remained there, Eisei also did, Oda didn't realize anything and Yaito was giggling under her breath.

"Heh! They're too soft." Eisei grinned.

"Sure, fella. So? Is Sieg – chan horny?"

"Sure. He's a masochist. Maybe some _dominatrix_…" He whispered.

"Hum! Maybe. I gotta think of some way to do that… Alright! Thanks for your time, Superintendent Oda! Come back anytime."

"Delighted, Ayanokouji – kun. Well then! Beware of smelling flowers, Ooyama – kun! Say hi to Uncle Moriarty, Eisei – kun."

"My pleasure, _Danna_ – sama~… See ya 'round…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Mister Oda will show me how to beat Miquel! Yeah!"

"Tee, heh, heh." Yaito giggled under her breath again.

18:20 PM (Japan Time)…

"…maddening… TOTALLY MADDENING!"

"Hikari Jr. – kun did tell you, Miquel – kun."

"Yeah. This town goes mad at any time of the year."

"At least we finally told Video Man and the other two to stop broadcasting through the speakers and upload those into the blog! This way everyone can choose if they wanna listen to it or not…! I dunno why it's taken us THIS LONG…!"

"One's patience is slowly erased…"

"Huff. That was crazy."

"Totally!"

Kage, Andy, Netto, Saito, Meiru and Hikawa were discussing in the way back: they all looked either annoyed or totally infuriated.

"Me! Codes! Need! Or shoot!"

A guy who looked like a commando with balaclava and vest suddenly popped out of a nearby alley and aimed a gun at them: none of them were surprised.

"Mr. Policeman." Andy suddenly looked beyond the guy.

"Police? Where?"

The guy turned and Andy quickly delivered a hit with the side of his hand to the guy's skull from behind: the guy was knocked out and Kage dialed a number.

"Police? Yes. An assaulter… This is my location… I'll be waiting…"

"Mongolia. They could try improving their English. And their gun budget, too… This is a plastic imitation." Andy had picked the guy's passport and the gun.

"They gotta have to cut a lot there and there." Hikawa shrugged.

"Well. Then it'd be better if we all went back together."

"Sure. This guy's alone: I'm sure of it."

"OK. Let's go."

The group headed down the street and they reached their neighborhood area.

"Alright. See ya around, Miquel… And DON'T trust emails from Yaito."

"Lesson learnt." He sighed.

"Don't be so defeatist, Kage – kun." Saito tried to encourage.

"I try… Let's go, Andy."

"Roger. See you around."

"Yaito – chan… Guess I gotta talk with her dad." Meiru sighed.

"That'd do WONDERS!" Roll muttered.

"Desu… That was weird, desu…"

"Maddening is the word."

"Yo! Hikawa – kun. We've got our car close by… Do you want us to lend you a ride home?" Kage invited.

"Sorry for the bother."

"Don't mind it. Let's go. _Bye-bye_."

The remaining three of them split and headed for their respective houses: Netto and Saito got into theirs and calmly switched their shoes for the slippers.

"We're home!"

"Did something happen?" Haruka asked.

"Well. Yaito – chan gathered us on the tree-house just to bring Superintendent Oda along and his "family humor"… In short: she was in the mood to troll us all afternoon long but we got away." Saito sighed.

"That child… How many times has she done something like that already, anyway? Her parents let her too loose." Haruka rolled her eyes.

"Meiru said she's gonna talk with her dad to see if we do something about it: she had to drag in Miquel and another classmate as well just to troll them as well…" Netto sighed.

"Dear me. That child… She really needs to be taught that she can't make people bear with her joking moods… Too spoiled…"

"We knew she was a spoiled girl ever since years ago, anyway."

Both headed upstairs and sat down on either the bed or the chair while looking tired or fed up.

"Even Mama agrees that Yaito's too loose… She should be told she isn't there just to pull pranks on people. She's got to inherit Gabcom Inc. one day!" Netto grumbled.

"I guess she forgot that. Her dad should tell her that."

"Sure should! I need to wash my face. Luckily tomorrow's a Saturday but we can't have much of a break. The exams loom closer with every passing day!"

"I know."

Netto headed to the restroom and washed his face: he then returned to the room where Saito was working with the laptop.

"Nothing new on my email inbox… Here you have."

Saito sat on his bed next so that Netto could use the computer: it beeped and displayed something.

"Huh? That's the Reverse Internet, right? A camera…? Eisei is pulling a prank on us or what?" He wondered.

"Guess that."

"Wait. Someone comes into sight… That armor design… Shunoros…"

"What color?"

"Blue."

"Blue Wave, then."

"The water guy, huh… Who is he gonna face?"

"Guess we'll soon know it."

"Heh, heh, heh. Come out!" Blue Wave called out.

"Hum. So you want a fight…" A voice replied.

"My top HP is 2650! Yours is… Yeah. About 2450."

"Numbers are one thing. Reality says otherwise."

"So? Will your presence stir up dormant hatred?"

"What nonsense is that…? If you mean my previous self… I'm no longer who I was… I've been granted a new chance. Like Freeze Man."

"Heh, heh, heh. We'll soon see that!"

Shade Man walked into the screen but both guys merely lifted their eyebrows and didn't seem to be surprised.

"Well. You will or you won't fight?" Shade Man drily asked while looking bored.

"Oho. Scary, scary~… Oreichalcos Boundary: Engage!"

"Hmpf. Crush Noise! 3 waves, 150 per wave!"

"What! Ugra~h! What a start! 450 to begin with…! Blue Ink! 192! Ice Grenade too! 175! Go~!"

Blue Wave shot out pressurized water jets which hit Shade Man but he didn't seem to mind it as the surrounding panels became Ice Panels: he began to warp and move around very fast and the Ice Grenade missed him too: Shade Man then became a colony of red bats.

"Red Wing!"

"Grah! Each bat can inflict 150 and there 5 of them…! Only 3 hit me but…"

"You've lost 900 HP already and I have lost almost nothing. You're getting too confident, young one."

"I thought you were more cheery and all! I saw the footage of summer 2010 when you did that to the dawn patrol and played with Blues and Search Man using fog…!"

"I had just been revived. I kept a lot of my old personality."

"Che! Freeze Knucle! 315! Be frozen!"

"Shade Hand! 300!"

A gigantic detached claw formed and gripped Blue Wave: he groaned as he got crushed and his attack failed.

"Shit. I've summed up to 1200 points lost insofar…!"

"… Could that guy be aiming for a Muramasa strategy?" Netto wondered.

"Could be." Saito wasn't too surprised.

"Wide Wave X! 225! Go!"

The attack did hit Shade Man as he lifted his right arm but he completed his move of swinging it down and grazing Blue Wave because he was too close.

"Shit. This is worth 150…! 1350…! I've gone over 50% already! And this guy's suffered but about 420 points…! Che."

"Did you think I would be so easily defeated?"

"Last time around Wolf managed to inflict a draw!"

"I've improved. And if you proclaim that you have too, then… Prove it."

"Bubble Hook X! 210!"

"Crush Noise!"

"Damn it! Aura!"

"Super North Wind!"

"Shit. Shark Cutter X! 175: 3 in a row! 525! EAT THESE!"

Three gray-colored shark fins shot in a stream across the "ground" and hit Shade Man as he was about to unload another Crush Noise move: he grumbled but wasn't impressed.

"Better! 965 points, more or less…! Another little bit and I'll lower this guy below the 50% mark! Ice Spinning X! 227 points! It'll draw a diagonal path starting a square in front of me! Go~!"

A small purple-skinned penguin statuette with a lower dome-shaped top-like base made of ice formed and began to spin: a distorted chuckle rang out and all lights suddenly went off save for the glow of the "Boundary" and a circle of eerie dancing purple flames.

"Barbatos has… come… to warn… the sinners…"

"Barbatos… So they finally show up again." Shade Man muttered.

He ignored a hit from the statuette and it continued until it reached the edge and vanished: Blue Wave gasped and looked around.

"Where are ya? Show your hide!"

"Indeed… Show my appearance I… shall…"

"Barbatos" walked in from behind Shade Man at a slow calmly pace as if they weren't in a rush at all: they stopped and brought up the sword to have it aim upwards.

"The legions of Hell… they are about to… rise… and this world… shall forever be… ruled by the Demon Tribe…"

"That's taken from the "Shuuen no Mono" when he says this: "The world's future shall be forever ruled by the Demon Tribe"…"…" Blue Wave wasn't impressed.

"It is but… a random and curious… coincidence…"

"Sure, sure. Whatever. Snow Ball X! 315! Go!"

"Crush Noise!"

"Che. Holy Panel! This way I only suffer 225 instead of 450! 1575 points lost but I can still fight! Eat Snow Ball!"

"Huff. Hum."

"1280…! Good, good…! Over 50% too… Now I feel better."

"Feeling like one has won… out of mere meaningless numbers… is but the thought of a fool…"

"Wha~t? You too…! As if that Burai jerk wasn't enough!"

"Found you."

"Shit."

Burai suddenly showed up behind "Barbatos" and they didn't bother to turn: Burai seemed to be suspecting of something.

"This feeling…? Like Ra Mu… A gigantic power which is sleeping and ready to be awakened, yet… No… It's more like it's a piece of a grand power which has gone into slumber and is waiting to be called on…"

"… You are that lone warrior… the descendant of the Ancient Continent of Mu… Burai…" They slowly intoned.

"Correct. You say you've become stronger. Prove it to me!"

"… Good. I shall… defeat you."

They slowly turned around and quickly clashed blades with Burai: they got stuck in a deadlock and Burai seemed to be using the chance to apparently try to "feel" more of what he'd just "felt" before.

"Piranha Kiss X! 70 per fish: 6 of them! 420! And it's a "time-freeze" one!"

"Hum. It doesn't matter to me."

Several piranha-shaped Viruses jumped out of the "water" and bit Shade Man before diving back in.

"Heh, heh, heh. 1995! Out of 2450…! Close, close…! I can do it!"

"Crush Noise!"

"Bah! Mere 225… 1800 points lost of out of 2650… Snow Storm! 51 per Ice Panel! 9 Ice Panels… 459! Eat medicine~!"

He formed a weapon which "consumed" the Ice Panels and shot a stream of cold wind, ice shards and hail: it hit Shade Man several times but he kept on not minding it.

"I see. Shade Man has a Muramasa strategy too." Netto deduced.

"Obviously. Or else he's got a Life Synchro… And he's baiting Blue Wave to inflict a lot of damage so that he can then synchro their HP points and reverse the tables…" Saito calmly muttered.

"Holy Panel!"

"Shit. Instead of 460 you get 230 instead… 2130 lost… Close!"

"Crush Noise!"

"Aura! Wide Wave X: 227! Eat this!"

"Did you forget my Holy Panel?"

"Shit! Then you 113 instead! 2243…! Out of 2450…! About 200 HP points left…"

"Life Syncho!"

"E~H? Uwa~h!"

"I win the bet, Nettie." Saito formed a smug smile.

"What's with that nickname, all of a sudden…?" Netto looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Dunno. Guess a mood I had."

"Shit. My HP values fall down to about 200 HP left so I've suffered over 2440 HP of damage…! The clever guy…!"

"Panel Format! All Holy Panels are gone now."

"Sea God's Anger! It doesn't inflict damage: it just turns the Field into water! And now! Ocean's Pressure! Total damage: 800 HP! Go~!"

"Crush Noise!"

"Ugra~h!"

"Mugru~h!"

"Whoa."

Shade Man's Crush Noise hit Blue Wave but his Super Vulcan's water jets also impacted Shade Man at the same time: both were repelled and the "Boundary" vanished as they collapsed: Burai was still clashing blades with "Barbatos" who made several fighting stances to block.

"I see. This guy's copying Form II… Dooku's style… You can't be original, right? You need to copy others."

"I have… no need… to reply."

"Then shut your trap, neophyte. You haven't really even _tried_ to think of how to fight. Very dramatic and all but you're nothing. Kuroban would easily defeat you." Burai drily told him.

"Foolish… hybrid…"

"Hybrid? Me? Denpa – Henkan is just using energy to transform your body into cybernetic data capable of materializing in the real world and jumping between both worlds… The process is undone afterwards! It's no Net Navi and human hybrid: you mean the "Cross Fusion" technology Golden Star developed, you fool." Burai grumbled.

He suddenly swung his sword left, right, up and down before thrusting it into the armor and making contact with it: purplish electricity spread from there and began to coil around the joints: "Barbatos" howled and some static and frizzling sounds rang out.

"Damn you, you damned rascal!" His speech now was more "modern" and totally rude.

"I knew it. You were just trying to fool us with red herrings but you're a mere plebeian. A John Doe. A no – one."

"No – one~? Me~? I'll blow you up yet! I'm the strongest!"

"Less bragging. Fight like a man."

"FUCK YOU!"

"Don't tell me. You seem to be acting like one of those Shunoros guys: you seem to forget I'm about 27. I've got way more experience than you when it comes to close-range battling. You aren't used to swords. Your previous style was different. Your Form II is slow and lacks coordination."

"I'm outta here~!"

His armor glowed with a menacing reddish glow before some flames formed around him and he shot skywards to become out of sight: Burai fumed and grumbled.

"Neophyte. Wannabe. Amateur." He sentenced.

"Say… That voice… It still sounded like they'd altered the harmonics to sound "manlier" but I think it's somewhat pitchy…" Saito frowned.

"Oh yeah? Maybe they have a voice like you or me… And they think that makes them brat-like…" Netto ventured.

"Ah. Sure. That could be."

"Is something picking you?"

"Well. Now that you mention it… Your messy hairstyle when you roll over in the bed and how you have to spend a while fixing it…"

"Oi, oi… Stop with the jokes, Saito – niisan!"

"Too bad, Nettie – chan. I'm inspired. I need to vent off the mood."

"Lovely."

"Ain't it?" His grin widened.

Netto sighed in defeat and headed off the room while Saito giggled and lay face-up on his bed while placing both hands behind his head.

_Too bad, otouto – chan… Today I feel like testing your reactions. That face was truly priceless! Priceless! Heh, heh, heh! Let's have fun next time!_


	18. Chapter 18: Blizzard

**Chapter 18: Blizzard**

07:07 AM (Moscow Time), Sunday March the 6th…

"… Patrol B-3: status report? Over."

"This is B-3. No anomalies. Over."

"Patrol C-4: status report? Over."

"This is C-4. The emergency exits are indeed alarm-rigged."

"Good. We don't want that of two years ago to be exploited twice."

"Too bad. I've found another way in."

"Damn it!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

Search Man had been checking with the base patrols when a familiar voice rang out and End Angel dropped from above.

"I just had to get in through the real world!"

"Damn it."

"Oreichalcos Boundary! Engage! My HP: 2350! Yours: 2550!"

"HP is nothing."

"That motto's fashionable, did ya know it?"

"Hmpf."

"Alright! Arcane Sword! Base power: 150! 75% bonus! 272! Go!"

"Shirahadori! It blocks the damage."

"Hmpf! Crafty, Mr. Mistake!"

"Don't bring that of 5 years ago up again." He grumbled.

"My bad." He snickered.

"Search Man. Cool it." Laika commanded.

"Roger, Laika – sama."

"Edogiri Blade X! 375 points! Go!"

"Satellite Ray! 150!"

End Angel connected and got shot by the Satellite Ray on his back but he didn't mind it too much.

"Elec Slash! 262! It has Paralysis too! Eat this!"

"Search Grenades! 150 per grenade: 3 in a row!"

End Angel laughed as the grenades blew up around him and he simply hit Search Man.

"More! Wood Slash! 315!"

"Gruh! Hence the Paralysis…!"

"Fire Slash! 350! With this… 375 plus 262 plus 315 plus 350… 1302! I've gone over your 50% mark!"

"Scope Gun! Armor…!"

"Hey! Wait a min. I'm not a Navi. Those rounds could later inflict wounds to my human flesh." He warned.

"Che. Freeze Bullet!"

"That's better… Heh, heh, heh! I know each is worth 75 points and you shoot a total of 5… Were all to hit me I'd suffer 450 points… Break Saber X! 437!"

End Angel let two rounds hit him and form patches of ice before he delivered an attack with the Break Saber weapon: Search Man growled and stepped back while End Angel snickered.

"So! Mr. Mistake bites?"

"Very funny. Scope Gun!"

Search Man shot another five rounds but End Angel dodged them and then drew a gigantic axe.

"Giant Axe! 560!"

"Devil! Ugra~h!"

"Take this! 1740 plus 560… 2300! Only 250 left… Wait… This reeks. I'm sure this guy can do better than this, so…? Oh. I see." End Angel frowned and then grinned.

"Correct…! Huff, huff… Life Synchro!"

"Hruk! So I'm left with 250 HP too… Heh, heh, heh. Not bad! But!" He didn't seem to mind the reversal of tables.

"But?"

"You triggered my Arcane Sword's Muramasa Ability! It becomes a normal Muramasa blade which can be used every time I go over 500 HP of damage and since I've lost 4 times that number… I can use it 4 times!"

"Heck." Laika cursed.

"Maybe you guys need to get up-to-date~?" He joked.

"Don't screw me!"

"No! I'll grant you a mad rampaging robot!"

"How funny."

"Eat Arcane Sword! _The end_!"

"Hmpf!"

"Ah. So that's how it is! Heh, heh, heh! Holy Panel"

End Angel hit Search Man and he vanished, leaving behind a AKs-74u to then shoot one _shuriken_ at End Angel: he grinned and was hit by it but the Holy Panel cut down the damage.

"200 HP points left, eh?"

"Che. He read us."

"I'm Read Them All Guy."

"How funny."

"Sword Fighter X! 105 per hit: 6 hits! 630 in total!"

"By all the…!"

"Shirahadori!"

"Huff! Good timing, Search Man."

End Angel's six consecutive attacks got blocked up but he didn't get nervous and calmly floated back to his position.

"Heh! I've got an ace up my cotton sleeves."

"How original." Laika drily muttered.

"First, though… Charge Shot! 50 points!"

He suddenly drew a buster and shot a Charge Shot at Search Man: he wasn't expecting that and it caught him with the guard down plus another three serial shots.

"Good. Like this… You've got about 185 HP left… Black Hole X! All enemies with 190 HP or less will be defeated!"

"Damn it! There was such a Battle Card?"

"Ugrua~ck!"

"Commander Search Man!" Some soldiers gasped.

"Hmpf. Rusted! I thought Golden Star would have taught you better but you didn't want to admit that and kept on being rusted, relying on the past and not improving… In short: conservative Army grunt."

"Grunt! Me!" Laika hissed.

"Bite me."

"Che."

"If you come closer to my village then I'll engrave a curse on your back with my blade." He snickered.

"I'll bring war to you lowlifes!"

"Try getting past me first. Then try Gray. But I doubt you of ever being able to stand up to the Prince. We're better than the "Darkloids" were years ago. Heh, heh, heh. I'm off!"

End Angel flew off and Laika grumbled something: someone cleared his throat close to him and he gasped.

"C-Commissioner Malenkov, sir…!"

"Behave, Laika!"

"R-roger, sir."

"I don't want to make it look like we're warmongers. Get it?"

"Roger, sir…!"

"And admit that you need further training and to throw away your previous conceptions of the adversary's strength!" Malenkov snapped at him.

"Roger, sir…!"

"Dismissed! Retrieve Search Man, repair him and await further orders!"

"Roger, sir…!"

Search Man was retrieved and the soldiers began to whisper amongst themselves but Malenkov cleared his throat and they all got into formation.

"Back to your duties! On the double!"

"Roger, sir!"

"Igor will beat Rogi!"

"Soldier! Back to your post!"

"Yikes! Roger, sir!"

"Really…!"

12:32 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah… Ah…! I missed this, Miquel – kun…!"

"Sure you did, Kuroshiro Oriol… Heh, heh, heh…"

"And why did you cuff my hands, anyway?"

"I wanted to make it a bit "spicy", see~…"

"Huff. Alright. I really wouldn't mind to bring up our friendly S&M games we did until last summer… Then we halted for a bit given what happened to Hikawa – kun but…"

"Heh. We could bring them up again… And, as always… You like me stuffing it into you…"

Kage was having sex with _Noir_, or, rather, Kuroshiro Oriol, on Kuroshiro's bedroom: Kage was atop Kuroshiro and thrusting his cock into him while Kuroshiro moaned: his hands were cuffed and placed behind him while Kage pinched his nipples.

"How couldn't I…?"

"Heh, heh, heh. You're one nasty otouto."

"I'm not really your otouto…! And you know it…! Stop kidding, Miquel – kun! You're a tricky lover!" He moaned.

"It's a joke. Mr. Joke is here."

"How original…! O~h… This teasing…!"

"There's more, Kuro – kun!"

"Don't mix me in with that OVA boy…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Too bad."

"Sure, sure… Anyway… Burai did tell us that "Barbatos" is a wannabe and amateur who tries to copy Form II… But he's light-years away from being able to fight seriously…"

"Of course."

Kage suddenly reached for a sports bag next to the bed and drew two red plastic clothes pegs which he clipped into Kuroshiro's nipples: he moaned and Kage began to rub Kuroshiro's cock next.

"Heh, heh, heh. You missed this, Oriol!"

"G-guess that…! O~h…!"

Kage then began to rub Kuroshiro's cock head and his moans increased in volume: he suddenly released and Kage gasped in excitement as he released inside of Kuroshiro.

"Well! How was that like, Oriol?"

"Ah… Ah…!" He panted from the tiredness.

"Heh, heh, heh. You loved it. I can see that. Here: prize!"

Kage rummaged into the bag again and drew a black 5cm wide vibrator which he stuffed into Kuroshiro's ass and turned it on: Kuroshiro began to moan: Kage took out his cock and then gripped Kuroshiro's head to have him take it into his mouth: he began to make him follow his pace while he saw how his cock began to dance: Kage increased his pace and released while Kuroshiro also did so.

"Heh, heh, heh! That's your 2nd round, Oriol."

He took out his cock: Kuroshiro began to groan while Kage stuffed it into his ass again and laughed while he pulled the clothes pins: Kuroshiro's moans became louder.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oriol! Your face tells it all: you love this! You want more of this and I'll give it to you, my word!"

He drew another two vibrators from the bag and turned them on to rub them around Kuroshiro's nipples: his moans got accented and he began to drool as Kage kept on pumping into his ass.

"Heh, heh, heh! Moan! Make me go mad!"

"Mi… quel… kun…! You're going… overboard…! Too fast…! I can't catch up with the… pace…! Please…! Slow down…!" He requested.

"No, no! This is where it gets interesting. You need some shock therapy to get you back to the old mood!"

"Not fair…! Little by little…!"

"Nah. We've waited for way too long. Next: these!"

He rummaged again after he left both vibrators face-up on Kuroshiro's body while making sure their tips rubbed against the nipples' skin and this time around he took out a thin string of rope: he tied it up around the base of Kuroshiro's cock.

"No…! Not that…! Please!"

"Come on! It makes you feel better and you know it."

"That's not like you…!"

"Well. People change. Ta-dan!"

He drew a string of thin plastic beads with a plastic ring atop them which he stuffed into Kuroshiro's cock: he arched his body and groaned as Kage placed a bell-shaped vibrator over the head to then turn it on.

"Heh, heh, heh."

He finally drew a bigger string of white beads which he began to stuff into Kuroshiro's ass after he'd released into his ass: he also placed a red ball-gag with holes on it over his mouth: Kuroshiro began to drool and looked like he was reaching his limit.

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's wait for a while before I let him release. I want to make up for this waiting… I wanted some spicing! And next week he can do that to me. It's fair: we switch around. Let's play the last chapter."

"… V-B-N! The last chapter! "Guys! Who's going to test Professor Bacterio's newest invention?" … "Me! Me! I'll do it!" … "Me! I want it for me!" … "I must warn you that it's very dangerous for one's health and that…!" … "Come on, come on! Don't be so grim, man!" … "If Bacterio made it then it's good stuff!" … "It's this beverage that…" … "No more talking! Let's drink!" … "Don't end it! Save some! I wanna have it too!"…"

"Hum! Very suspicious." Kage grinned and rubbed his chin.

"… "A~RGL!"… BLOM! "I knew it! Poor fellows!" … "It can't be helped! The best always leave us…!" … "We have gathered here to offer one last homage to those two brave ones which have left us while fulfilling their duty…"…"

"Oi. Is that for real? Nah. No way." Kage was surprised.

"A~GH! What a frightening nightmare~!" … "Heck! Don't yell like that, you moron! You woke me up again!" … "Che! Those guys have some guts!" … "The bald guy even brings the pajama along!"… "The other's worse! He demanded a salary increase 'cause he spends a lot of hours in the archives!"… "Guys! Who's going to test the…?"… "YOUR OLD MA~N!"…"

"Oho. I knew it."

"Our two heroes run until they reach the North Pole! They spot an igloo there! "Get in, Boss! We'll be safe here!"… BLANG! BLANG! BLANG! BLANG! SRE~CH! CRONCH! RI~C! RAC! "Devil! W-what's going on, what…?" … "Mommy~! An earthquake~!"… BRRRLOM! BLOM! BLOM! …"Agent Nanunck brings escapees on the rocks!"… An Eskimo agent brought them using an excavator to rip the ice base and sealing the entrance! "You freezer rat! Swallow an octopus and let it freeze in your stomach with its open tentacles!" … "Want something to heat up, guys? Well! It's the last of devices designed by Professor Bacterio! The Ultimate Invention, even!" … "Yes. You know that there are robots which do lotta things nowadays… Math calculations, organization, electronic assembling, they peel eggplants and shave the nose's hairs… Well! I brought "Siderico", the robot which does everything… EVERYTHING!"… "Heh! If it also gets rid of plagues then I'd rather stay away!" … "Hey… Are you sure it ain't a relative of yours? It has this junk-like vibe…" … "When operating "Siderico" you only need program it and it can get rid of the enemy, fill a lottery coupon, carry out a full check, cure included… See, see! Check, health, staff, "TIA"…"… "Roger! Beep! Beep! Irregular pulse! Beep!" … "Of course! You're touching my clock and it was worth 135 Credits!"…"

"Hmmm!" Kuroshiro protested.

"Ops. 7 minutes have passed… Let's wait another 3!"

"Hmmm!" He protested again.

"Don't complain! You'll love it once it's ended."

"… "Beep! Wan tongue, rather slurred… Beep! Beep! Caries tooth: noodle remains… Out! Beep! Beep! Needs vitamin-complex: camel-hormones and mule-globules… Beep! Beep! Impulse to inject needle… Beep! Keep the target static! Beep!"… "W-what the heck is it gonna down next? What will…?" … "Mr. Mortadelo told me he had to show me something important: I'll go check. AH! YOU MISERABLE! Make such a dirty thing in front of my eyes… Take case for your "important stuff"… To what ends the jerk has come to! He began by taking out my tongue and…!" … Beep! Subject change… Calf resemblance… New check… Beep! Beep! Vitamin excess! Dragonfly extract leveler… Beep! Beep! Target hit: rather grand target…. First shot… Beep!" … "This house's mad! And dangerous!"… "Devil! That thing's going off on its own! Do something!"…"

"HMMM!" Kuroshiro protested again.

"Alright, alright. My bad, cutie."

Kage walked over to him and sat to his right while glancing at him as if being content with looking on: Kuroshiro was pretty if not totally annoyed by now given his glare.

"There it goes."

He undid the rope and then picked both the cock string and the vibrator before pulling them out: Kuroshiro arched and released in several vigorous sprouts before fainting.

"Heh, heh, heh. _Happy dreams_, Oriol."

He began to take out the stuff and store in on the bag and he saved the handcuffs for the last thing: he then covered him with the blankets up to the neck and picked his own black boxers which he put on: he sat down in front of the PC again (which he'd been using to playback the recording) and plugged a pair of white earphones.

"… "Of course I'm going to do it, Boss! I'm going to weld its back pertineoum style! Hey! Haven't you seen a robot acting the medic?" … "No. But I saw a medic acting the robot and…" … "Brrr! I'll find it! And then…!" …"

"You'll send it to the junk-yard?" Kage chuckled.

"… "So! The robot thing is Mortadelo's handiwork, huh? It went and removed a grain I had on the nose! GRFTJX! If I catch that Mortadelo jerk then…!" … "And to think they named ya Jimmy "Big Nose"…!"… "Gulp! I gotta catch that walking junk no matter what!"… "I'm going to see how they're handling the robot…" … "Beep! New subject spotted… Similarities with adult walrus… Starting check-up… Beep!" … "My tongue! And my… My… UA~H!" … "Beep! Non-tension arterial pressure… I inject tension solution… Beep!"… "OW! The junk busted my… My… UA~H!" … "Hey! That junk's attacking the whole staff from the rear! How do ya stop it?" … "Easy! You only need to change its programming… Steal… weapons… persons… not belonging… to staff… See? Done!" … "Roger! Beep!"… "Now, if some enemy comes in "Sigerico" will nullify them in the blink of an eye…!"…"

"I suspect further trouble." Kage chuckled.

"… "I need to see Mr. Superintendent… There are suspicions of an attack aimed at the Armed Forces' defensive belt…!" … "Beep, beep…" … "Devil! The pants' belt! I'm going to fall!"… "Beep! Weapon taken… Did not have time to get the wallet… Beep!" … "AGH! General Mandóblez!" … "Mr. Superintendent!"… "I'm going to complain to Mr. Super! At least he and his relatives are decent persons which… A~H! Mr. Super hugging General Mandóblez! And in their boxers! What shame! What scandal! I'm off this house!"… "Hey… Can your robot do anything else?" … "Anything! That file doesn't fit on the shelf, right? Then "Sigerico" will do it! See! Widen… spaces… given… staff… needs…" … "Roger! Beep! "Sigerico" widens! Beep!"… "Well. I didn't intend to archive any elephant…" … "Ah! Mr. Filemón! If you'd seen the scene between Mr. Super and General Mandóblez… I don't have enough mouth to explain it!" … "Roger! Beep! Robot helps! Beep… Now you have plenty of… mouth… to explain…"…"

"I guess it's too literal sometimes."

"… "A~RGL! GJJJ! AGLF! JPRTZ!"… "Devil! What happened to you? Did you try to swallow a sirloin without removing the rest of the cow?" … "Did you know we're starting to be fed up with your junk? Did you know it?" … "Calm down your homicide impulses! I'll input a new program!"… "Don't be soft, Boss! Let's spin the guy another six times!" … "Done… Blindly… obey… superior's… orders…" … "Roger! Beep!"… "Mr. Super! Your behavior is, frankly enough, sultry! You'll remember this!" … "No… Me… The robot… Wait, wait! Quick, Mortadelo! Bring "Sigerico" for the General to see it! He's burning!" … "…"Sigerico" coming right away~!"… "Beep! He's burning… He's burning… Beep… He burns… Beep!"… FLOASH! "OUA~GH!"… "You repellency portion! Let a 70 Megaton bomb fall in front of your very noses!"… "Well, dude! That's some bad mood!"… "Roger! Beep!"…"

"Oi. You're not telling me it's gone off to steal it, right?" Kage gasped.

"… "Beeep! 70 Megaton bomb… here it is… Beep!"… "AGH! No, no…! NO~!"… BOOM! … "Yeah, dude. You won't recognize it. The "TIA" got up-to-date and…!" … "Why! I'd heard that most modern businesses have a hole but…"… "The "TIA" moves in a dainty manner! Yesterday they had the HQ in the Tambourine Street and today it dawned on the Rag Square of South Calcutta. Their workers, rather beaten, refused to give out explanations and repeating some like "Bacterio! Grtjxk! Bacterio! Grftjx!" which is supposed to be some kind of code and…"…"

"No way… They had it on the office? Why does an investigation agency store nuclear weapons? The same thing happened with the "Bloody Cell-phone" album…"

"… "Be hard with the guy, hard! Extra pay for the one who mincemeats him!"… "What's wrong, man? It's a mere robot! A scientific advancement! Wait, wait! You'll test it out!" … "Press that button, Boss! It says "Crushing of Bearded Insects"…!"… "Leave me alone~! You're a bunch of mummified retrogrades! HELP ME~!"… They chase him with a gigantic robot which looks like a parody of an elephant! THE END! V-B-N! Off air! See you around, fellow conspirers!"

"Huff. Really… They didn't get too "up-to-date" in the end, huh?"

"Yo."

"Hey. _Lil bro_. Legato was hard on you?"

"Maybe. Why. Oriol looks tired."

"I went for the shock therapy."

"Huff. No wonder. Not doing it for months… You can be somewhat sneaky from time to time, Miquel – kun."

Andy had come in from the side-door and placed his right hand over Kage's right shoulder: he sported a pair of white boxers and that was all: his silver hair was somewhat of mess.

"Well. Guess I am, yeah."

"Anyway… The last chapter was crazy, too."

"Wasn't it? Heh, heh, heh. The "TIA" stores too many dangerous toys on its storage room, see~…"

"And the technology they have sometimes is outdated or doesn't work as it should work…"

"Heh, heh, heh. The crazier agency in the world…!"

"Huff. Alright. I'm going back. Later."

"Pose for a boxers advert!"

"No way…"

"Gotcha."

"You're too sneaky." Andy sighed.

"Not my problem, Mr. Anderson. Welcome to _Purgatory_."

"Yeah, yeah. I get the joke."

Andy headed out of the room and closed the door while Kage typed into the laptop and whistled a tune: the laptop beeped.

"Hello? _Noir_? There's no video?"

"Oh. Zero. Sorry. Guess I switched off without noticing. Oriol's napping: he's been pushing it again, see…"

"Alright. "Barbatos"… They were investigating a "node" and trying to attack it: I sent the Blue-Eyes there and the guy ran for it. Not much of a guts guy, right?" Zero chuckled.

"Really… If he claims to be strong, then… What better way to prove it than by trying to defeat the Blue-Eyes?"

"I know. I'll tell Boss next. See you around. Huh? Wait. Bubble Man. The jerk's trying to sell imitations again."

"Show him Exodia."

"Why not… There! Exodia: Summoned!"

"UWA~H! PUKU~! THE CURSE OF THE PHARA-KING! RUN FOR YOUR BUBBLES, DE PUKU~!"

"He mistook the "o" sound in "farao" for "ou" or "king"… He needs to have his ear-pads re-tuned. Hmpf." Kage snickered.

"Sure thing… Huh? Che. One after the other… Now five guys who proudly display the Croatian flag…"

"Croatian agents, huh? They all get desperate and forget something. Even if they got some codes we can change them all in 5 minutes' time and by the time they try to start using them they'll get nothing and they'll be traced to the physical locations from where they operate."

"Yeah. They're but desperados… Let's send the "Winged God Dragon of Ra" to scare them off. There! Go!"

A bird-like screech rang out followed by five gasps of fear and some cries of terror: Zero chuckled.

"There. I'll spread a rumor. We can rip off _anime_ and game monsters and we have them work as security patrols. Let them try tackle monsters the HP of which is set to 5000 points…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Good, good. Terrific, my fellow conspirer."

"Thanks. This should keep some of the weak at bay."

"OK. See ya around."

"Delighted."

Kage chuckled under his breath and continued on using the laptop to do stuff: he glanced at Kuroshiro and checked he was still asleep: he then entered YouTube and began to look some videos.

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm going to re-watch the _Pokémon Black_ walk-through in the meanwhile to refresh the game before these cool sequels come out in the summer…"

An icon showed up on the task bar and he frowned.

"Ah. A YouTube subscription newsletter… Oho. So he's watching a channel which is uploading the _Tintin_ cartoon series… Those are cool, really, they never feel old! Captain Haddock and his "billion blistering barnacles"… The film wasn't too bad, either… Besides: Hergé had wanted Spielberg to do it so it was a fulfillment of a deal…"

"Yo. Boss! _Marchando_! Huh? Kage? Boss isn't there? And what's with the camera?"

"My bad, Burner Man. Boss felt tired so he's napping… I guess there's a glitch in the camera… Anyway… Did something happen?"

"That armor jerk was trying to break into the Internet City warehouse but I and Freeze Man _Danna_ went and the guy ran off empty-handed. I guess he's getting desperate and wants something to stand the ground against us but… Meh!"

"That's the spirit. Bring some headaches upon the guy."

"My pleasure! See ya!"

Kage stretched and chuckled under his breath again.

_Well, Barbatos… When will ya get serious? We'll be waiting for ya! Heh!_


	19. Chapter 19: Rise of the tomahawk

**Chapter 19: Rise of the tomahawk**

06:56 AM (Indiana Time), Thursday March the 10th…

"… Well. Anything odd, guys?"

"Not really."

"Pete was eating Etep."

"Stop with the puns, guys… It's barely 7AM and I'm not in the best of moods, anyway… Someone snuck a "cat-talk" glitch into me and when I find them they better start praying!"

"You shall pray… so that you… survive… this battle…"

"Huh? The armored jerk!"

"Barbatos… That is… my name…"

"Yeah, yeah. Bring it on. You don't have any weird light show so you can't be that hard to chew."

"That shall be decided… in these grounds… neophyte…"

Tomahawk Man had been checking with some patrol soldiers in the base while looking annoyed but then a voice rang out and "Barbatos" showed up there.

"Huff. Tomahawk Rolling!"

Tomahawk Man compacted into a ball and was surrounded by flames as he shot forward: "Barbatos" gasped and drew the sword yet the blow hit them fully and they were sent flying to crash against the ground.

"Tomahawk Air Raid!"

Tomahawk Man shot two spinning tomahawks which hit the guy into the chest and then jumped down to hit the middle of the chest with his right forearm's tomahawk: "Barbatos" howled and quickly got to his feet while swinging the sword and making a cut across Tomahawk Man's chest which he didn't mind: Tomahawk Man then compacted and rolled again to shoot at him but this time around he got deflected by the sword.

"The same strategy shall… not work… twice!"

"Don't tell me, Mr. Anderson."

"Hmpf!"

"Barbatos" hit the ground with the sword and some geysers of purple flames shot out skywards around Tomahawk Man but he merely snapped his left hand's fingers and made a totem pop out.

"Totem – sama! Invincible mode! Meteors!"

"What?"

Several meteors fell down but "Barbatos" merely swung the sword to deflect them yet failed to spot the flying tomahawks heading for his flanks: he got hit and he lowered the guard so he was met with another Tomahawk Rolling into the upper chest which brought him down into the ground again.

"Fuck you!" He stopped using the voice altering program.

"That's more like a guy like ya."

"Wha~t? You kiddo~!"

"Go fight your evil step-brother, Mr. Anderson, instead of bullying."

"This jerk!"

"I know. So? Going back already?"

"Not yet! Hra~h!"

"Barbatos" rushed on forward and tried to hit Tomahawk Man but he simply shrugged.

"Tomahawk Swing!"

He swung the tomahawk to form an energy circle around him which repelled the attacker and made him fall seated into the ground: he grumbled and ran for Tomahawk Man to hit him but since he was protected by the totem then nothing happened to him.

"That's your best move, Mr. Anderson?"

"Shut up! "Daimonji"!"

He drew the "dai" or "big" symbol in the air using the sword and a blast of flames hit Tomahawk Man to be repelled by his protective "aura": he shrugged it off.

"Did you think I wouldn't learn to protect against flames?"

"Shit."

"Go for it, man!" A soldier rallied.

"Shut up. This is but an exchange of blows. The real fighting's yet to come." Another scolded.

"Hmpf. Interlopers… Let them be removed!"

"Like I'll let ya. Meteors!"

"Che. Not again."

"Barbatos" swung his sword around in a rather _amateur_ manner to deflect the meteors but then got hit by the tomahawk into the middle of the chest: the armor deformed and gave way to a cavity.

"I knew it. You designed it on a rush. And… Even if you try to add more thickness to it… That'll only limit your moves… And your speed, too..."

"Che! Damned armor logic!"

"Armor logic? Patent it, dude. Some RPG will buy that concept."

"Don't LAUGH at the GREAT ME!" He got annoyed.

"Fight better."

"Easier said than done!"

"I'm sure you've got far more power sleeping inside of you: I've felt every time it makes contact. It's getting impatient and annoyed, whatever it is. And you're making it hold back. One day you won't have enough strength to hold it back and it'll take over you."

"Huh!"

"Aha-hah. Hit a spot, Mr. Anderson?"

"Who'd want to carry such a dangerous thing on their body, anyway?"

"Well, Dingo… When one's mad for power… They can take the first thing they find and then they regret it."

"Oh. So that's why."

"Barbatos" remained silent and looking elsewhere as if knowing Tomahawk Man was right and that he was running a very hi-risk gamble in the current state they were.

"No comments, Mr. Anderson?"

"Oi, Tomahawk Man… I don't think it's a good idea to piss him off."

"I guess that armor's other purpose is to make it harder to notice that power and to control it to some extent."

"Whoa. When did ya become so good at that, Tomahawk Man?"

"When ya were meddling around with your silly cartoon tunes?"

"Wha~t?"

"These fools…! Talking nonsense… Laughing at me…!"

"I didn't really "laugh" in the literal sense but I guess I did in the figurative sense, if ya get where I'm getting at, Mr. Anderson."

"ENOUGH NICKNAMES!" He growled.

"So? Is your girlfriend the _dominatrix_ type?"

"G-girlfriend? Do… minatatrix? What the heck is that?"

"Ah. Then I guess you really are the loner who hung out with the buddies to go stir trouble there and there."

"Hmpf! Those herds of fools… I'll cut off their NECKS!"

"Go ahead. Make a good display."

"Hra~h!"

"Tomahawk Swing!"

"Fuck."

"Barbatos" got repelled again and this time he gasped as some kind of "pulsation" rang out and seemed to momentarily encompass his whole body.

"See? You're just making that "power" feel further impatient. Yet it feels like it is but a portion of something FAR GREATER."

"Grrr… I'm rushing too much and I'm about to screw it all like this."

"Come screw it further."

"Shut up! SHUT UP! Energy Bomb!"

He opened the left hand and energy began to flow off the Cyber World to gather in the form of a yellowish spheroid: he threw it at Tomahawk Man who split it in four parts in the blink of an eye and they all exploded: "Barbatos" managed to run up to him but Tomahawk Man merely formed the "Ojiouzan" statuette and "Barbatos" hit it so a bolt of lightning fell down upon him: he howled and the "pulsations" rang out again.

"Shit. Tactical escape…! I'll remember this!"

He cut the air with the sword thus forming some kind of dimensional anomaly and jumped inside: it closed as quickly as it'd formed and Tomahawk Man sighed.

"Amateur. Totally."

"W-whoa." The other soldiers whistled in surprise.

"Man. That was some fight."

"It wasn't a real fight. The guy improvises and lacks plans."

"That guy reeks, really…"

"That power thing… Haven't I heard of that somewhere else…?"

20:20 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Let the Blues hit the Saxo!"

"Enzan – kun…!"

"I drive ya mad?"

"Where has your serious mood gone to?"

"Dunno."

"Huff."

"Hey. At least I'm not as bad as the broadcasts."

"I know that."

Enzan was playing _Mario Kart Wii_ along with Blues on his apartment's living room and he looked amused while Blues was sighing.

"You know that I wanted to redo our relationship by being just friends with each other when off-duty…"

"And I have no complains. Yet… That randomness… It drives me mad!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"Please…! Let's stop with it already!"

"Well. I might."

"Jeez."

"Goal!"

"Huff."

"Heh, heh, heh. So? You wanna go for another round?" Enzan leant back on the sofa.

"… Yeah. Let's go." He sighed.

"And not go."

"Huff!"

"Start with a rattle!"

"Huff! Start!"

"I turn right at Mach 1!"

"Huff. Just say you're turning right."

"Heh, heh, heh. So? What do you think of the battle style that "Barbatos" guy has?"

"I'm more concerned with Tomahawk Man's talk. It rings a bell somewhere…" Blues looked concerned.

"A rusted bell provided by Uncle Merton…?" Enzan joked next.

"How funny. Goal."

"HUH! I lowered the guard."

"How unlike you, Enzan – kun." He drily commented but the sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.

"OI!"

"Hmpf. A word for a word."

"Alright. You win this round, Blues – chan."

"Please…! Spare me the Nickname War, Enzan – kun!"

"Too bad! I'm a nickname warmonger!"

"Patent that and sell it to some RPG."

"Excellent. To _Tales of Blues_, I will."

"Please…" He slapped his face in defeat.

Enzan's PET beeped and he picked it up: Eisei showed up onscreen while grinning.

"Yo! Hero – sama~! Enjoying some days off the battlefield?"

"I wonder." He shrugged.

"Heh! You've become good at beating around the bush, eh?"

"What do you want?" Blues grumbled.

"Dunno. Maybe I'm just dropping by to say hi and bye."

"Huff."

"Heh, heh, heh. That "Barbatos" is cheaper than a Coca Cola can."

"Guess that." Enzan shrugged.

"Maybe I'll provide the electricity to cook him up, even."

"Go ahead."

"Delighted, _kaichou~_… Beware of Uncle Merton!"

He giggled and vanished from the screen so both rolled their eyes (Blues apparently did that under the shades) and sighed.

"He's so random…!"

"And then you say I'm the random guy."

"I take that back."

"I need a glass of water."

"Alright."

Enzan headed for the kitchen and served some water in a glass to the drink it up: he sat back on the sofa.

"Phew. Better."

The PET rang again and Enzan picked it up: Aragoma was the caller.

"Yo! Ijuuin! Where's a strong guy worth my time~?"

"Dunno. They pop out whenever they feel like it. Get ready for the beating of your life, Aragoma."

"What did ya say~?"

"You need to get up to date. Ask Uncle Merton for help."

"Who's that?"

"Superintendent Oda knows."

"Hah! Then I'll ask him! I'll be the strongest!"

"Try surviving a battle with a "Shunoros" guy and we'll talk."

"Wha~t?"

"See you."

"OI! IJUUIN! I'M NOT…! CLICK!"

"Huff. The town goes mad AGAIN. Is Ooyama next?" Blues sighed.

"Let's hope it isn't and that it isn't Ayanokouji. Hikari told me about that prank she pulled up last time. It was madness, truly."

"Yeah. No wonder we all scram whenever Superintendent Oda shows up when we were discussing something important."

Enzan's PET rang yet again so he began to get exasperated: he picked it up and Netto showed onscreen.

"Hikari? Is something the matter?"

"Are you alright? Is the Seychelles desperado still there?"

"What Seychelles desperado?"

"Huh? Didn't you just send me a mail saying you wanted me to contact Miquel because a Seychelles desperado was trying to get in?"

"No."

"… Eisei or Yaito… I wouldn't be surprised if they plotted it together…"

"Told you, otouto…" Saito sighed in the background.

"I know. But since it seemed to come from Enzan…"

"Tell me and I'll double check it."

"Alright, don't get mad at me."

"Not like I was."

"Well. You know it for the next time: don't trust emails at a first glance."

"Yeah. Sorry to have bothered you guys… See you."

"And beware of Yaito – chan's moods."

"That goes without saying." Blues sighed.

"Totally!"

"Let's set the PET to only ring if there's something important. Like the world's ending…" Blues suggested.

"Of course! I should've done that from the start!"

Enzan set something in the PET and sighed in relief once he placed it on the table: it beeped to signal incoming email.

"From Ooyama… "Prince Ooyama's back with a rage and challenges ya to lose to him!"… The guy needs ten cold showers in a row."

"Huff. Guess that."

"Another email… Hikawa? "Thank you for telling me the secret, Ijuuin – kun. I'll protect it."… What secret? That I'm _yaoi_ or what?"

"I suspect Eisei."

"Huff. The guy… Calling for trouble where there isn't any…!" Enzan fumed and looked fed up already.

"As usual…"

"Grah! Let's make another 3 races and then I'll ready the supper."

"Sure. Since the Race Goddess favors you, Enzan – kun…" Blues smirked at him.

"Huff. There you go again with your payback mood…"

"Beware of my sharp curve turn… I might derail."

"Very funny. But I won't make it easy either! Let's go!"

19:50 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… Kisei? Have you seen Gray?"

"Ah! Prince, sir… Gray? I'm afraid not."

"Hum. I thought he'd be on his quarters but not…"

"Maybe in the cupola…?"

"It could be. I'm going to check there. By the way: did you find anything about "Barbatos"?"

"I thought Umisama was in charge of that, sir."

"Ah. True. I'll check with him. But don't worry if you find the guy. Given his amateur skills then he'll surely fall before long."

"Roger."

Kuroban had stepped out of his room in the Kyutora base and encountered Kisei in the corridor: they talked and he headed up a flight of stairs into the dome room: Eisei was there talking with Sieg and Urateido about something in a hushed manner: Kuroban seemed to get annoyed and cleared his throat: the three of them gasped and quickly stood up to face him.

"Gray. What had we said about "that topic"?"

"Huh! I… forgot."

"How unlike you."

The atmosphere seemed to get worse given the silence which was building up in the room: Kuroban fumed.

"So?"

"Huh! Well… Umisama got the data of the battle with Tomahawk Man and it does seem the guy has some secret power which he's having trouble controlling…"

"Hum. That's something."

"G-guess that, yeah…"

"Don't – talk – about – THAT – in – this – place!" He hissed.

"R-roger…!"

"Don't underestimate me, either!"

The three of them ran off like they were going to be slaughtered alive: Kuroban sat in one of the armchairs and formed his "Ultimate Orb" in the air to then pick it with both hands and examine it.

"… The "Ultimate Orb", the best piece of technology the On'Setsu Kingdom produced… For the sake of the Royal Family… My consciousness is synchronized with it… So when my body was killed back when the Mu dogs invaded us… I went into slumber… And one day… One host found this and I used his body to "resurrect"… Then… Using advanced genetic engineering… I created this new body for me… Yet… Huff. I'm about 26 by now… But… Nah… Huff." He began to mutter yet he soon began to sigh as if he was troubled.

He remained silent and then heard some footsteps: Ernst came in and walked to in front of him to salute: Kuroban dismissed it in a calm manner and with a sigh.

"Eh… Prince? Is there some problem?"

"Nah… Just going over my choices… From now on… And, especially…"

"… Eh… Marriage, you mean to say?"

"Yeah. But I don't think I'm fitting yet. But I don't want to dishonor my father either. The Royal Family must continue. If not… I could try appointing someone as an heir… It's been done other times and there has been acceptance from the people because it was necessary. But of course: I'm not thinking about any of you guys. It has to be someone of my nation, see. And it could be a girl, even. We've had Princesses before. We're very open-minded on that topic… Sorry. I began to ramble."

"Eh… N-no, sir… You're not to blame, sir… Yet… What should be done regarding Urateido and the others?"

"I scolded them for bringing up that talk here despite my orders. I guess I did set the fear on them so they've learnt the lesson. I'm sorry."

"Huh! N-no, sir… You're not to blame, Prince…"

"It's part of my responsibility as you guys' leader."

"Ah! Of course, sir… One has to accept their responsibility…"

"You've got my permission to go and bust anyone related to that man: just make sure they go down in a shameful manner. They deserve it."

"Roger, sir."

"But don't lower the guard. There are desperados out there: they could start thinking of trying to steal our technology."

"I understand, sir. I'll be going."

"Alright."

Ernst left the room while Kuroban sighed and distractedly placed the "Ultimate Orb" on his lap while tapping the right armrest: he seemed to be absent-minded.

"Yeah. Guess that's the best solution… But it won't come to exist, anyway… I feel bad about lying, but… They wouldn't believe it… The Royal Family ended long, long ago… Well. I might pass down this knowledge and such into someone I can trust…"

He lifted his gaze and looked outside of the cupola and into the alien skies where a meteor could be seen crossing over the skies and head southwards of them.

"Hum. Let's hope it falls some distance away. And since this dwarf planet is almost as airless as the Moon then it'll leave a crater behind which won't fade. Another for the record… Besides… The "Ark", the spaceship which brought us here is parked on its orbit and its computer will warn us if something was headed our direction. In that case we'd deploy a "Dimensional Area" and make the asteroid be disintegrated on contact with the field…"

"… That referee wasn't paying true attention! That was worth a yellow card!"

"Well, well. Don't get hot-blooded either, Netsuhonoo. No use crying over spilled milk…"

"Next time I'll hire Prophet Jeremy to be told the end of the match!"

"A prophecy doesn't necessarily need to be fulfilled. Watch at what he told to the "TIA" guys…"

"Netsuhonoo and Kazebun… Is there some problem?"

"Huh! Prince! No, sir… Kazebun and I were going over a soccer match we witnessed the other day, sir…"

"We'd just derailed into some sarcasm…"

Both guys stepped in and Kuroban calmly glanced over to them while they sat down in the row behind him: Kuroban returned to glancing at the sky.

"One: "the "TIA" will be dynamited before the day ends"… He meant that they were bringing a _dynamo_! Two: "you, named Vicente, shall lose your life in a silly accident"… He meant a _book_ titled _"life_"! Three: "the Besuguio eruption will take place at 6 o'clock at the latest!"… He meant an agent named Besuguio and his grain eruption when he ate turnips! Four: "I predict and I surely can't be mistaken that Mr. Director will attack Ms. Ofelia with Visigoth fury, let her be sober or let her be drunken"… He meant that he was going to play a Brahms violin piece! Five: "it's not like he resents it, but I predict that Prof Bacterio will, today, and sans vituperation, stroke the "TIA"…" … The guy meant that he wanted to _load_ his _aunt_ to the upper floors! It's a pun on the Spanish "cargar" and the agency name, which can be read as "Aunt"…!" Netsuhonoo described.

"I'd rather sacked him after the first one." Kuroban muttered.

"… Six: "don't think I've gone nuts, but, today, a moustache guy will send Ms. Irma to the grave." … It was actually her neighbor asking her to deliver flowers to a relative's grave!" Kazebun continued with a sigh.

"Well. He was right with those but… He dramatized them!"

"… Seven and last: "Oh! What a cruel vision! The Great Madame is coming closer: there's going to be manslaughter and you'll fall one after the other!"… Well! In truth "escabechina" is a way to prepare sardines and what he meant to say is that Ms. Ofelia planned to cook those. But she accidentally dropped vinegar into a new explosive Bacterio had and the building collapsed. They then grabbed the guy and abandoned him tied to a pole inside of an empty wooden drum in the sea where a shark looked about to eat the guy and Poseidon was about to pierce him because he was loud…" Netsuhonoo finished with a groan of annoyance.

"I'd done that myself." Kuroban seemed to roll his eyes.

"… "Next time a prophet does drop by… I'll send him to become fuel for the nuclear power plant!"… Mr. Super threatened."

"Huff."

"We're sorry, Prince. We had to involve you in our discussion, sir."

"Don't mind it. I wasn't in the best of moods, anyway."

"Ah! By the way, sir… We've heard some rumors about something which is named "Atomic Fire" and which can seemingly wipe off large amounts of Navis… It was designed by "Nebula" to then be taken over by some Army Department…" Kazebun brought up.

"Mere conspiracy theories… Gray's snooped there and there but never found any real evidence of it… Don't worry about that: besides, that "Giga Freeze" thing was pretty experimental and they only had one sample so they decided to abandon producing any more of those."

"Ah! We thought as much. Understood, sir…"

"Yeah… This time around there's no "ultimate goal"… It's just a campaign, a season… That is continuing from where we left off at…"

"We get it, Prince, sir… We'll be going."

Both guys came out and Kuroban sighed as he glared skywards again.

_Will I be able to prolong this for much longer or…? I don't know… yet…!_


	20. Chapter 20: Deductions

**Chapter 20: Deductions**

17:44 PM (Japan Time), Thursday March the 10th…

"… Alright… The only one who'd call us here at this hour has to be Eisei, up to something…"

"Sure, Miquel – kun… He must want a new rematch."

"Bah. I'll fight with all I have. If he hasn't improved then it's no wonder he doesn't win."

"Heh, heh, heh. So ya came, Kage… It's time to settle the score! I won't make it easy for ya~!"

"Alright. But no cheat codes."

"Of course not… I don't wanna annoy _aibou_ in purpose!"

"Hmpf. I guess that."

Kage stepped into a warehouse building somewhere full of crates and it happened that Eisei was waiting for him while toying with his PET by tossing it into the air and then catching it back: Andy shrugged and de-materialized while Kage pocketed his sunglasses and took off his coat to then draw something from his right jeans' pocket.

"The "Synchro Chip"!"

This "Synchro Chip" was different from a standard Battle Chip because it had no label and instead had an emerald dome made of some slightly transparent material similar to glass in the center of it surrounded by a black edge: the Golden Star logo had been set at a small scale SE of the dome and the contacts were different: the feeling of it was something else as well.

"Wait a min! I'll call for the "Dimensional Converters"…"

"And the "Dimensional Area", yeah, we know that."

Four tall cylinders having two caps and transparent glass body containing several circuitry patches formed from some "warp holes" in the ground.

"Heh, heh, heh."

These cylinders could be close or over two meters tall each: they ignited in a synchronized manner and some energy hexagons of varying colors began to form and fuse to give way to a dome which covered the whole building: the colors got mixed and distorted at random too.

"Ready, Andy?"

"Ready."

"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"

"Heh! Coming!"

The PET turned into a small white sphere from which energy seams emerged and expanded: Kage expanded his legs and arms while closing his eyes as if letting instinct guide them.

"Heh, heh, heh…!"

The light dimmed to reveal how Kage had indeed achieved a "fusion" with Andy.

This fusion, or, rather "Cross Fusion", had Andy's bodysuit over his normal clothes but with some design differences: the plating over his shoulders had a more pyramid-like form and was aiming towards the NW and NE, respectively.

The helmet's design was different as well: a silver-colored fin-shape piece formed at the sides, emerging from the ear pads' upper edge and extended until the end of the helmet: an arch was drawn over it and the space inside of it had a deeper tonality of silver.

A complicated drawing was imprinted within the forehead and the helmet's front now extended until the start of the nose

His hair now flowed out in a more natural manner from behind it.

A bronze-colored border formed around it and a straight line travelled towards the emblem to form a curve surrounding the lower half of it: the curve ended with a small 'spike' drawing pointing downwards.

His forearm design included a thin separation around the elbow: the two combined section formed a hexagon with a golden-colored jewel set on its center.

The short section set on the rear half of the elbow was colored bronze while the rest of the forearm was slightly brighter.

The bronze borders travelling down the sides of his upper body ended around the hips: two circular bands of a bronze color were drawn over them with a small separation between them.

His boots' design was based upon that of his forearms: the soil was painted black and separated from the rest of the foot by a thin bronze-colored line.

The jetpack design had changed a bit, too, and it now included bright silver pieces connecting the upper right and left edges with the body: a curved golden line was drawn half-way across it: the rest of the backpack looked identical to Andy's usual form.

"Alright! Your turn!"

"Yessir! Denpa – Henkan! Eisei Aaron, On Air!"

Eisei transformed into Gray Thunderbolt and both got into stances as Eisei stuck out his tongue as if trying to look creepy: he then formed his "Boundary" Battle Card.

"Alright! You've got 2800, I've got 3000! Let's go~!"

"Dream Sword!"

"Shirahadori!"

"Lightning Rod!"

"Hah! Mad Vulcan X! 17 per 15 rounds! 255! Eat these!"

"Barrier!"

"Che. He's focusing on defense this time around…?"

"Guess he thinks he's the Iron Wall which split West and East."

"What? Laika!"

"Laika? What the heck?"

"The guy should be grounded in Sharo!"

Laika suddenly popped out from behind a pile of crates while looking smug and confident.

"How the heck did you get here?" "CF" Kage questioned.

"Uncle fell ill and his replacement officer decided two would do better than one so here I am. I managed to get a hold of the "Denpa Henkan" signature and tracked one… And it turned out to be yours, Eisei…"

"Shit. I didn't think that could happen. _Aibou_ will get annoyed."

"Jeez. Typical Sharo paranoia… Another reason none of your agencies got the codes was because you repress some groups… Like those with different sex behavior… In short: _yaoi_ and _yuri_… And you set up that charade of two guys exchanging roles every a few years ensuring they will remain in power until they die… You're a long way from becoming a decent nation." Andy grumbled.

"Not my problem."

"I knew it. Like how you left a scar on Ijuuin – kun as a little reminder that you'd used him to have a thrill."

"Heh. Ijuuin must be holding a grudge, I guess. Oh well."

"Whatever. You're nothing. Let's continue, Eisei!"

"Plasma Gun X! 210! Eat this!"

"Forgot about my earlier Lightning Rod…?"

"Heck."

"My turn. Corn Shot, Triple Slot! Corn Party!"

"Damn it!"

"Go!"

"Hah. Gotcha~…"

"I thought as much too."

"CF" Kage shot the Program Advance at Gray Thunderbolt: he snickered and vanished to be replaced by a "Thunders" PKMN statuette: he formed higher in the air and began to flung _shuriken_ at "CF" Kage but he formed the "Ojiouzan" statuette to block all of them and make ten bolts of lightning fall down on the guy: he didn't seem to have minded them much and "CF" Kage seemed to expect that.

"Hah! Any same-attribute attack will have its power cut by 50% like in _Pocket Monsters_… Each punishing bolt is worth 200 but in this case they'll be 100… Despite that… 10 in a row will inflict 1000 HP to me… Not a bad start… Sakurai told ya about our match, eh?"

"She told Hikari – kun and he told me."

"Of course! Tell the boyfriend first."

"Last time I checked they weren't boyfriend-girlfriend."

"Heh, heh, heh. Kidding, kidding."

"Hum." Laika now looked suspicious of something.

"Laika – sama. Is something the matter?" Search Man asked.

"Don't mind me. Just try to figure out the signature of these "DCs" so that we can track them later on…" He whispered back.

"Acknowledged."

"Alright! Here we go! Elec Pulse, Triple Slot In! Destroy Pulse! 700 points of damage! Eat this!"

"Lightning Rod."

"Che. You came prepared."

"It's your problem for wanting to imitate Green."

"Green, eh? From Gen I and II… And the Gen III and IV remakes…"

"Yeah. In Gen I he becomes the Champion and in Gen II the Tokiwa Gym Leader with no particular specialty…"

"Let's continue~! Elec Slash! 262!"

"Shirahadori."

"Shit. Defense, defense…! That's not like you!"

"People change, Eisei. And my strategies also do."

"Che. Synchro Hook X! 300! And it'll synchro your HP amount with mine too! In short: You'll suffer 1300 points through this combo!"

"Oh yeah? I wonder about that."

"Yikes!"

Gray Thunderbolt tried to hit "CF" Kage but he got replaced by a statuette of the "Zenigame" PKMN and he began to fling _shuriken_ at Gray Thunderbolt but he smirked and formed the "Ojiouzan" statuette there: all _shuriken_ hit it and ten thunderbolts fell down one after the other into "CF" Kage.

"Hah! I return the earlier trick! 2000 of damage to you! And this combo will beat you!"

"Not so fast, Eisei… Muramasa Blade!"

"Ugrack! Damn it! The fashionable blade, huh!"

"Guess that. Have at you!"

"Grah! I've lost about 1500 HP by now, but… Here you have! Synchro Hook X! 300 of damage first! Hra~h!"

"Holy Panel, Dream Aura."

"Shit."

"Hmmm…" Laika was rubbing his chin and looked thoughtful as if he'd spotted something.

"Signature recorded and stored, Laika – sama."

"Good job."

"Panel Format! Super North Wind! Enough beating around the bush, Kage, you can do better than this!"

"I don't feel like wasting my energies."

"Che!"

"Program Advance! Count Bomb, Triple Slot In! Giga Count Bomb!"

"Hah! Barrier!"

"So you're copying my style."

"And 100,000 Volts too! I updated it to make 5 bolts rain down with a power of 150 per each! Total damage: 750!"

"Lightning Rod. Folder Back."

"Shit. The famed Folder Back…!"

The 5 bolts fell down on the Lightning Rod and Gray Thunderbolt was getting annoyed.

"Che. I've lost 1500 and this guy 2000… I've still got 50% myself and the guy has about 29% left…!"

"Why don't we end this pointless battle already, Gray? We ended in a Draw last time around, in the summer. Isn't that enough for you?"

"No! I'll win! Program Advance! Spread Gun, Triple Slot In! Hyper Burst! 90 per hit: 10 hits max! 900 points of damage~! Go~!"

"Ojiouzan."

"Huh! Holy Panel, Dream Aura!"

"Now, who's the defense maniac?"

"Che!"

The PA hit the statuette and Gray Thunderbolt protected from the lightning bolts which fell down.

"… Something reeks…" Laika muttered.

"What does, sir?"

"Like Kage is trying to rush it all and get out of my sight… Maybe there's something he doesn't want me to see…? Or maybe my presence makes him feel nervous…? Could my hypothesis be right…?"

"What hypothesis, sir? I do not recall such a discussion, sir."

"I haven't talked that with anyone. It's a hypothesis because it lacks a lot of solid proof and most would be regarded as conjecture or they could easily be shot down…" He whispered back.

"Ah. I see, sir."

"Kage! Don't tell me that jerk over there is pressuring you."

"And what if?"

"Then it's no fun!"

"A battle isn't fought for fun: this isn't a videogame."

"And now you act the know-it-all!"

"Like you do."

"What kind of reply is that? Let's end this show already! This is something no barrier and defense will save you from! First: dig! Second: go, my _bunshin_! Self-destruct!"

"W-what in the…?"

Gray Thunderbolt suddenly formed a hole in the "ground" of the "Boundary" and fell inside while a black-colored "bunshin" of his formed on the Field to suddenly explode: "CF" Kage formed another statuette but the lightning bolts fell into the ground in vain and the statuette shattered: the explosion hit "CF" Kage and he bounced against the dome to then fall face-down into the ground: he got up to his fours and panted.

"That thing inflicted 750 points of damage. It's like in _Pocket Monsters_: Eisei had to sacrifice a portion of his own HP points." Andy grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh… Dig!"

A dig-hole opened beneath "CF" Kage and Gray Thunderbolt's Rocket Knuckle shot out skywards and hit his chest emblem: its force momentarily made his opponent lift his back and then fall into his fours again: Gray Thunderbolt popped out of his own hole.

"… Huh? The battle isn't over yet…? Ah! Under Shirt! You have 1 HP point left still…"

"Muramasa Blade~!"

"Ugra~h! Forgot about the Folder Back thing!"

"You! Fucking hacker!" "CF" Kage howled.

"Tell that to "Barbatos"!" Gray Thunderbolt panted.

"No more Mr. Nice! Ryuusei Form!"

"No…!"

"That's…!" Laika gasped.

"The nightmare…!" Search Man gasped too.

"CF Kage" engaged the Ryuusei Form: his chest emblem pulsated and he roared as he began to suck energy off the lamps and the "DCs" too thus making them flicker for some seconds before the "cocoon" built up around his body: Gray Thunderbolt gasped and suddenly began to hear the amplified hear beatings sounds: Laika also stepped back.

"… Get ready." Kage's icy voice rang out.

The sudden release of energy spread inside of the Boundary but Gray Thunderbolt formed spiked soils, jumped and managed to get stuck on the ground while crossing his arms to form the shape of the Alphabet "X" letter: he grimaced as the energy began to dissipate and he looked filled with angst when he saw "CF Kage" with the Ryuusei Form overlapping his body standing in front of him: there was one slight change and that was that his eyes' irises became a mix of blue and red while his face-mask hid his nose and mouth: he began to hover around and move around.

"D-don't come! DON'T COME~!"

"Black End… Galaxy!"

"100,000 Volts!"

"CF Kage" lifted his hands and formed a small spheroid of blackish energy which he then dropped behind Gray Thunderbolt: it suddenly grew into a large black hole which began to suck everything around it: "CF Kage" drew a reddish blade on his right forearm and boosted on forward cutting the air on his wake.

"Uwa~h! No more~!"

"CF Kage" hit Gray Thunderbolt: he flew past the black hole which suddenly collapsed and the shockwave originating from its implosion hit the energy fully thus delivering further damage: he stopped there but the earlier five bolts fell down into him and he collapsed into the ground along with Gray Thunderbolt: the "Boundary" converged and both panted: Kage's Ryuusei Form began to undo by forming the "cocoon" and flow back inside of "CF Kage" before he was restored to this previous form.

"Huff, huff… Draw again… Mutual… annihilation…"

"Man… This is the only thing which… stops me from going mad… from encountering that form…!"

"You've… risked it too much, Miquel – kun…! The "Cross Fusion"… is going to break down…!"

The "Cross Fusion" broke down into raw data and Kage's PET reformed: both got to their fours and then managed to sit down in craters opposite each other: someone suddenly pinched Kage's right cheek and pulled but Kage didn't seem to notice it.

"I see. It must be some skin recreation material… Not your everyday cheap latex mask like _Kaitou Kid_… Hmpf… So I was right…"

"HUH? HUH!"

"By all the… Laika! You moron! Whaddya doing, huh?"

Eisei rushed over to past Kage and drew his fists as if threatening Laika who was grinning and looked amused: Kage now looked pretty much if not totally annoyed.

"Shit." Andy grumbled.

"Heh. So that's how it was!"

"Shut your trap." Kage snapped.

"My paranoia was right."

"I'm afraid I don't follow." Search Man admitted.

"You needn't." Andy directed a glare which could kill at him.

"Huh… Guess that…" He looked taken aback, for once.

"Hmpf… So you wanted to play the hero again, eh?" Laika snickered.

"Not like you'd understand. And you needn't. Get out of my life." Kage hissed.

"So you still resent me for that of years ago, eh?"

"Who wouldn't?" Andy grumbled.

"I don't follow. At all." Search Man looked exasperated.

"Get out. Or I'll get you out." Eisei threatened.

"Oh? So you seem to respect each other despite being enemies?"

"Neither of us is so stupid to fall for the "I hate the enemy" thing: we simply do what has to be done. In short: I figured it out with my own means but since I'm not a soulless bastard then I've kept my trap shut and said nothing. Get lost. Or I'll bring Hell to you." Eisei grumbled.

"Hmpf… I knew you were a bad influence for Ijuuin… You've softened him too much… He's gotten too "friendly"… Else he'd exposed that."

"He couldn't. And you can't. There is evidence against you."

"Laika – sama: I think you're stepping into thin ice, sir…"

Laika's PET emitted a distinct tune and he absent-mindedly picked it to reply to the call.

"Laika!"

"Huh! Commissioner Malenkov, sir…? You're back to work, sir? Did the flu go away, sir…?"

"What flu? I was visiting my brother and my parents! Ozenlov is a warmonger idiot who took the chance to try to steal my authority and spark up trouble! Your "mission" isn't officially sanctioned! You're actually carrying out a non-authorized investigation!"

"What…?" He gasped.

"I've arranged for a jet. It leaves in two hours' time. Meet with Torolov and he'll drive you to the airport and see to it that you board that jet back home. That's AN ORDER! And this time IT'S OFFICIAL! Else… There'll be CONSEQUENCES! You should've known better not to trust Ozenlov!"

"B-but, sir… My duty is to obey any commands from a superior officer, sir, isn't it?"

"Happens that Ozenlov's under investigation for tax evasion ever since the fall…! So he's been relieved of all authority! So you actually aren't obeying anyone's orders and you're operating solo and sans permission!"

Laika seemed to turn white: Kage remained silent and crossing his arms and Eisei did the same thing: Search Man was also silent but had seemingly foreseen some trouble given his look.

"Go meet with Torolov! NOW! ON THE DOUBLE! BEFORE MY ANGER RISES EVEN FURTHER! YOU IDIOTIC NEPHEW!"

"R-roger, sir…!"

Laika ran off like he was going to be slaughtered alive and Kage sighed as he drew his PET: the holographic screen formed and Kuroshiro's face showed up there.

"You tipped Malenkov, right, Oriol?"

"Yeah. It was the best way to shake the guy off. I'd feared such a _scenario_ for some time already. So I knew how to act."

"So that's your true face, eh, _Noir_?"

"Yeah, Eisei… And I guess than confirms our suspicion that you knew it."

"Well. Yeah. I figured it out. And I slipped it out to _aibou_, but…"

"… Someone else too?" Kage glanced at him."

"Well… Urateido… And Sieg had figured it out on his own, so…"

"Urateido…! You better keep the guy controlled… I'm sure that even Prince Kuroban wouldn't like for that to spread like wildfire."

"O-of course not… _Aibou_ questioned me and he had a talk with Urateido which was enough to set the fear on the guy, so…"

"Alright. Make sure that it doesn't go out of control."

"Y-yeah… See you around…"

Eisei rushed out while Kage stood there: one of the "Dimensional Converters" (they'd already stopped functioning a while ago) began to hum as a white circle of energy formed on Kage's feet to then give way to a prism-shaped column of energy: Kage's body seemed to be slowly erased and he disappeared from there.

"… Che. Too late…!"

"Barbatos" happened to walk in at that moment and hit a crate with the left first out of frustration.

"I felt an incredible power here… It made my own power resonate and almost be unleashed… What was it?"

He began to toss craters and open them as if he was hoping to find the answer there (the "DCs" had vanished as well) but he gave up and ran off while fuming.

"I'll find the source of that power… And get in! But for now… I'll prove my strength to that man… The leader of Shunoros! You better be ready!"

16:58 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… Phew. It's almost ready to operate again."

"Found you."

"Barbatos, huh? I was expecting you to drop by after you set the spy camera here."

"Che. You found it?"

"I'm pretty much paranoid, you see."

"Whatever."

"Come to the beach… There's further space~…"

"Don't make a fool of me!"

"Who knows?"

Kuroban had been working with the robot when "Barbatos" materialized behind him: Kuroban stood up and turned around while looking smug so "Barbatos" got annoyed: Kuroban warped out and "Barbatos" de-materialized, entered the Cyber World, and materialized again in the beach where Kuroban was whistling a tune as he looked at a holographic screen showing the reverse side of several Battle Cards.

"OK. I go first. Card born from the pitch-black "Dark"! Grant within my hands the power of fatality!"

He formed the "Oreichalcos Boundary" and grinned at "Barbatos" as some "pressure" formed there: a low-tuned howl rang out but soon died out so Kuroban looked curious.

"Oh?" He seemed to guess what it was about.

"Che."

"Well. I don't boast. But I wouldn't be surprised if people catch up soon."

"You meddling rascal!"

"Come out, Archie – chan."

"Who?"

Some date materialized and gave way to a program having a spherical body colored green with some small spikes all around it, four very thin legs and one big eye the center of which contained the Oreichalcos crest imposed over it.

"What the heck is that?"

"Arachnid but my lil nickname is Archie – chan. It's an obstacle you'll have to overcome, Barbatos."

"Hah. It only has 250 HP. A few blows and it'll be gone."

"Try it: go ahead."

Barbatos lifted the sword and rushed to the monster to try to stab the sword into the eye but a kind of invisible barrier stopped him when he was only inches from doing so: his sword glowed and some energy leapt it out of it and into the small program.

"What happened?"

"Well, well, well. I forgot to tell ya… The Special Ability my servant has is to stop and absorb enemy damage. Half of it will increase its base HP while the other half will regenerate my HP. If they're already at top… Then they'll be adding more power to my next attack. And as long as the Boundary is on the Field then it can exist and it's indestructible."

"What? So… If you had an attack with 250 base power and I attacked with another 250… It'd sum up to 500… Plus the 50% bonus… 750?" He quickly deduced.

"Correct. Now, let's see… Your HP clock at 1900. Pretty low, huh? Mine, in exchange… Clock at 3500… And there's more to come."

"More to come? What could be worse than this?"

"Dunno."

"Che! I'm not going to charge in and lose so easily…! Battle Chip, Mega Cannon! 180 base power! Eat this!"

"Go, Archie – chan. Play around."

"A~ru~chi~e~...!"

Archie's eye glowed and formed a sphere of energy with the blast of the Mega Cannon which soon began to glow with a menacing glow before being shot back at "Barbatos" who deflected it and the attack got nullified while Kuroban formed a Super Vulcan.

"Super Vulcan! Original base power: 20! 10 from Archie – chan! Another 10 HP from the Boundary…! 10 shots in a row…! 400 HP of damage…!"

"Heck."

"Say hi to The Pain! PAIN!" He sneered.

He shot several round but "Barbatos" managed to bounce them off and deflect them: Kuroban shrugged and brought up his screen.

"Ah. Good timing."

"Huh? What's going on?"

"The second power born from the pitch-black…!"

He displayed the Card's image: it was the same as the Oreichalcos Boundary, but a new rim had been added thus creating a 2nd "Boundary" around it.

"No way!" "Barbatos" gasped.

"Oreichalcos Deuteros!"

Some energy pulses began to be emitted by the current Boundary, which had become turquoise: a 2nd Boundary formed outside of it and slowly spun until it was fixed it position: the symbols on it were not parallel to the 1st Boundary's ones but had been displaced some centimeters to the right.

"A-another "Boundary"! More power bonus?"

"No, no. Let me explain it to ya. Oreichalos Deuteros… With it being on my Field…"

"What happens?"

"Half of the damage inflicted to either me or Archie – chan will be restored to either of us. And it can block Direct Attacking by blocking it and returning it to the source as well."

"Restored… You mean you can transform damage into HP?"

"Yeah. It's like reverse engineering a Muramasa Blade."

"So another attack similar to this one of 180 points of base power… Both would recover 90 HP… And, at the same time… You'd keep on powering up your next attacks…? It's a system to make you recover from attacks and, at the same time, make use of it to inflict great damage in 1 Turn…!"

"Catching up, Uncle Sylvius?"

"Uncle Sylvius? Who the heck is that?"

"Never read Sherlock Holmes, I take it."

"Huff! Who reads a 19th century tale?"

"Beware: it also includes early 20th century… And a lot of people do: if you set your mind to understand the context of the age… Then you can enjoy them a lot, see… And Sylvius was a scheming Count who stole a diamond from the crown of King Land, the Mazarin Stone, and was planning on selling it to become rich."

"So you're saying I'm the greedy type?"

"It's an irony! Given how we're Uncle Moriarty, Golden Star is Uncle Moran and Superintendent Oda is Uncle Merton…" Kuroban looked pretty much amused.

"This nation has gone mad in these few years!"

"Sure has. Guess M&F are to blame."

"Che. Tank Cannon 3! 200! And it produces an explosion on the whole back row! I can skip the servant!"

"Did you forget?"

The 2nd rim suddenly formed half a dome spanning from the rear to the middle of the main "Boundary" and caught the energy of the blast before shooting it back at "Barbatos" and hitting him.

"There. You've just suffered 200 HP of damage."

"Damn. I forgot about "blocking Direct Attack"…!"

"Feel the despair. Heh, heh, heh… The Boundary is about to prove its real power! True! Engage! The 3rd Oreichalcos Boundary: Oreichalcos Tritos!"

"No way! There's more than this?"

The Battle Card having the drawing of the 3-layered-Boundary turned white and the ring descended along Kuroban's body until it settled itself in the ground, thus forming a 3rd Boundary: this Boundary's symbols were slightly displaced to the right as well.

"Oreichalcos Tritos. Thanks to it the real Oreichalcos Boundary can be completed. Its Effect allows me to disable _all_ of your Mega or Giga – Class Battle Cards. Program Advances will work, yet…"

"Devil. I'm stepping into ever thinner ice than before…!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Program Advance! Hair Hockey, Triple Slot In! Hell Hockey! 100 per hit, and it's Breaker! You're weak to Breaker, Barbatos!"

"Heck. Because I'm a sword-user…! And Breaker pierces armor but my armor is too tough to be pierced like that! Guh! Gah!"

"5 hits: 500 HP to you… 700… There's still some way left before the 50% mark at 950… Heh, heh, heh."

"Shit. You shield yourself and use proxies to attack!"

"Not really. Dexia Sword!"

Kuroban warped and appeared in front of "Barbatos" to swing his sword twice and inflict damage to him: "Barbatos" tried to strike back and got blocked by the Aristeros Shield: Kuroban warped back.

"Each blow: 250! 500! And my shield is immune to Breaker too."

"1200…! And this guy doesn't have a single scratch…!"

"Burai is the only one to have successfully faced me: the guy had a special unique Battle Card capable of shattering the 3-layered "Boundary" but our matches insofar have ended up in draws… A proof of our mutual skills sharpened during multiple years… I had to go through multiple trials and hardships to prove I was worth of the being the Prince!"

"Che. And here I thought you were a flamboyant cool guy."

"Heh, heh, heh. Do some research, will you, Lestrade?"

"Che! Dream Sword! Go~!"

"Nope, nope… That won't do! Drill Arm! 105! Eat triple blow!"

"Ugru~h!"

"Heh, heh, heh. 315! 1515… Had enough?"

"Not yet! Eat these! And these!"

"Huff! Hah! 500 of damage to me because I lowered the guard and got confident but… Meh!"

"Che…! I'm fed up and… Huh! The damned bastard: here it comes knocking at the door again…! Stay quiet! I'm in control! You're but a mere _bunshin_ of the original! You're about 25% of its original power!"

"Hmmm… I suspect your true colors…"

"Shit. Between my muttering and this jerk…! It's no wonder…!"

"Yet I don't have enough solid evidence… I don't want to rush it. Consider yourself lucky."

"Damn this guy!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Double Point, Color Point… These add 30 points to my next attack plus the 50% bonus… 50 plus 25… 75… Super Vulcan: 20 rounds! 1500 of damage! Go!"

"Not so fast! Sword! Instant! Return this damage! Hrah!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Nope, nope~… Deuteros! Shoot it back! Give him half and the other will be stored for my Dexia Sword."

The dome formed again and gathered energy which was returned in the form of streaks of electricity which hit "Barbatos" and travelled across his armor: he howled along with a distorted shrieking-like voice before he collapsed into the ground on his fours.

"Converge!"

Each "Boundary" converged on Kuroban and vanished with a flash: tree happened and they all vanished so he sighed in relief and de-materialized his weapons while rubbing his wrists.

"Well then. I'm off. Come back once you've learnt how to suppress Mr. 25% _bunshin_. See ya."

Kuroban walked away and spotted how "Barbatos" briefly glowed with a vermillion tint but then de-materialized to flee.

"So my suspicions could be true, _aibou_?"

"Ah. Gray. Yeah… I'm pretty sure of it at this stage… But maybe Golden Star will be the ones to see who is under the armor… It may take them time to pierce it together, but… Ah! You better keep an eye out on that Laika man… He can't be trusted to totally withhold the info…"

Eisei had stepped out and both began to walk into the unadorned entrance which simply had a flight of stairs heading upwards.

"I know. I guess Malenkov's pressure of having him realize he was played as a fool and his anger will quell that and he'll want to see that guy who put him in that situation go through fitting punishment…"

"Hum. It's not a bad _scenario_ and it's rather possible."

"Yet… At this rate… Will the guy ever regain what he had or…?"

"I'd rather not speculate. Don't look down on them. They have the potential to ruin everything… They're dangerous… And unpredictable…"

_Hmpf. Too bad, Barbatos… I've figured it out by now… Your true colors…!_


	21. Chapter 21: Cut them all

**Chapter 21: Cut them all**

11:41 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday March the 16th…

"… Heh, heh, heh. A nice garden, is it not?"

"Hmpf… So you're the one behind this incident…"

"Yeah… I'm itching for a fight!"

"Well then. I'll give you one you'll likely not forget."

"Don't tease me so much, _Danna_… Let's go~!"

"Hmpf."

Cosmo Man had come to investigate a miniature forest which had popped in a corner of the Reverse Internet and found Ruthless Vine there, who was the source of the whole mess.

"Well! Heh, heh, heh… Engage! Oreichalcos Boundary! My HP: 2650! Yours: 3150! There's a huge gap between each other but that's yet to be seen… Heh, heh, heh…"

"Hmpf."

The "Boundary" formed on the clearing in the middle of this small forest and Cosmo Man merely folded his arms as if waiting for Ruthless Vine to start fighting for real.

"Green Ink! 157! Green Grenade! 175! Go!"

"Hmpf."

Cosmo Man simply glowed for a second before warping to the adjacent square: the blast missed him but did set the whole center row to become Grass Panels: the Green Grenade made the rest of the squares become Grass Panels too.

"And now… Jungle Storm! 52 per panel: 11 panels… 572 in total!"

"Hmpf… A combo to make use of the field… Cosmo Gate!"

"What?"

Cosmo Man opened a "gate" or, rather, a dimensional gateway, above him and some planetoids began to fall down at random around the field: Ruthless Vine began to dodge.

"Each is worth 100 points. And there are a total of 12."

"Che. Eat Jungle Storm!"

"Fine."

"Fine? Oh heck. More Muramasa strategies?"

"Who knows?"

Cosmo Man let the attack hit him and Ruthless Vine gasped: he lowered the guard and 3 planetoids hit him: he growled and stepped back while dodging the others.

"Huff. 300 and 572… What a start! Vulcan Seed X! 87 per seed: a total of 9 seeds! They sum up 730 points of damage~! Go~!"

"Cosmo Ring!"

"Uack! That was worth 200 points! And my attack got foiled!"

Cosmo Man detached his ring and swung it to hit Ruthless Vine and foil his incoming attack: Ruthless Vine suddenly jumped into the air and drew a weapon.

"Kogarashi X! 70 pet hit, 6 hits! Total: 420 points!"

"Hmpf… Cosmo Buster!"

"Heck. 100 per round and it's 5 of them… In this case…!"

The objects Cosmo Man shot at Ruthless Vine hit him but he disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving a statuette of the PKMN "Fushigidane" behind and he reappeared higher in the air to shoot a _shuriken_ at Cosmo Man who blocked it with his right forearm: another _shuriken_ suddenly came up parallel to him and scratched his back before heading downwards: Cosmo Man hissed.

"Hah! Shuri Shuriken X! 280 points! Plus the Kawarimi… 480 points!"

"Hmpf…"

"1052 points insofar…! But I'm too far. This has been a heating up!"

"Hum. This one's suffered about 500… But numbers don't matter."

"Correct. You guys seem to be always forgetting that."

"Che. Burai!"

"Mr. Author said I needed more screen-time."

"Who?"

"Your worst nightmare."

"Wha~t?"

Burai had suddenly shown up outside the field and leaning his back against a rock while folding his arms and closing his eyes: he began to taunt Ruthless Vine.

"You. The guy under the rock… Come out before I get annoyed."

"T-there's no one!" Someone gasped.

"Shadow Man." Cosmo Man grumbled.

"I knew it."

Burai kicked the rock and Shadow Man gasped as he got exposed: he drew his _katana_ and looked nervous but Burai directed a dull glare at him: Ruthless Vine and Cosmo Man continued their fight.

"Program Advance! Corn Shot, Triple Slot In! Corn Party! 1120!"

"Huh! Ojiouzan!"

"Crap."

All the rounds hit the statuette and a punishing bolt of lightning fell down to hit Ruthless Vine: he grumbled.

"Shit. Change of plans… Powder Shot X! 300 points! It paralyzes too! Eat this one for a change!"

"Cosmo Gate~!"

"Uah! You plan on making me worry about dodging in the meanwhile while you recover… But that won't work! Rolling Nuts X! 280!"

"Hmpf."

Ruthless Vine threw a nut which rolled down the arena and then detonated: he lowered the guard and 3 planetoids hit him: Cosmo Man recovered and drew the Cosmo Ring.

"Cosmo Ring!"

"Heck! This combo made me lose 500 and he's lost 580… 1632 for him and 1000 for me… This is getting long…! But I've overcome 50% of his HP while he hasn't overcome my 50%..."

"Numbers won't save your hide." Burai dully muttered.

"Huh? Where did Shadow Man go to?"

"The guy fled like I was gonna slaughter them. Whatever."

"Che. Spider Web X! 122 per hit: 3 in a row! Go!"

A spider-shaped Virus dropped from above using a string and shot three cobwebs in a row towards Cosmo Man who didn't mind those hitting him and readied the Cosmo Ring.

"Cosmo Ring!"

"Uack! Shit. Another 200… 700 for me… About 2000 for the guy… But he's got some strategy to turn it around… Life Synchro or Muramasa Blade: both of us have been staking a lot on those ever since the whole campaign started back in January…"

"Hmpf… Starting to catch up?" Cosmo Man taunted.

"What's Kuroban plotting by making the robot fly around again and broadcast Great Evil God Zorc's lines, anyway?"

"Heh! To cause some ruckus and have those brained guys sweat to try to cool it down before everyone goes mad…" He sneered.

"Hmpf… Whatever."

"Cosmo Ring!"

"Whack! 900 for me…! Radar Missile! This one only gets 50% bonus 'cause it ain't Grass! 300 for you! Lock on target! Fire!"

"Huh! So you want to bring out the heavy weapons."

"Yeah! And now you've suffered about 2300 points of damage… That's close to 75% of the total… I've suffered about 34% insofar…"

"Numbers won't help you pass the Math exam." Burai grinned.

"You go dig out fossils!" Ruthless Vine snapped at him.

"Cosmo Buster!"

"Holy Panel! Huh! Dodge, dodge… Whack! Uwah! Gruh!"

Ruthless Vine began to dodge while using the Holy Panel but 3 of the attacks hit him in a row and he groaned.

"Shit. I cut them down so I only got 150 of damage… 1050… About 40% of my HP… Still below 50%... Good, good… Wood Slash! 300! Go!"

"Cosmo Ring!"

"Duck! Eat sword! Hrah!"

"Huh! This one's turning faster…!"

"Good… 2600… 82%... Another little bit and… I can win this time around!"

"Hmpf… My turn… Life Synchro!"

"What! Fuck you~…! Ugra~h!"

"Hmpf. You got cocky, neophyte." Burai taunted.

"Neophyte! I've fought several battles by now! Shit! I got deduced 82% so I'm left with 477 HP points by now…! This guy's terrific!" Ruthless Vine growled.

"Hmpf… Cosmo Gate!"

"I've still got the Holy Panel! Dream Aura! Phew!"

"Hmpf. Running away from the battle, I see…" Burai provoked.

"I'm not listening!" He growled back.

"I wonder about that."

"Dream Sword!"

"Hah! Dream Sword! Mutual destruction!"

"Oh?"

Both flung the Dream Sword Program Advance at each other and they met half-way only to merge into a large column of energy which looked unstable and it soon imploded: both had to shield themselves and Burai needed to shield his eyes: a loud metallic sound rang out followed by a curse.

"What?"

The light cleared: both combatants were unharmed but they were looking at their right: "Barbatos" had fallen there and was struggling to get up by using the sword to lean.

"That power! What was it?"

"Dream Sword doesn't nullify another Dream Sword. They merge in an unstable manner and collapsed." Burai dully replied.

"You're Burai…! The foreign swordsman…!"

"If you wanna call me like that…"

"I thought you were busy killing Kuroban."

"My mission isn't to kill the guy. It's to protect my tribe's legacy. We're more like rivals than hatred enemies. Because hate doesn't lead anywhere and it's pointless."

"Hah! What about the Dark Side, then?"

"Loser's way."

"Wha~t? You're calling Sidious and Vader losers?"

"Sidious was ambitious. Vader had already stepped into it from time to time. He was fooled by Sidious and then thrown away like a mere suit."

"Che."

"Go read the newly-begun series of _Star Wards: Dawn of the Jedi_."

"Che. I know Issue 2 of this series is coming out in a few days but…"

"Enough chit-chat. Fight!"

"Fine! Charge Shot! 75 points of damage!"

The attack hit Cosmo Man and he seemed to be guessing why he'd used such a weak attack.

"Hum. So that's how it'll be. So be it."

"Muramasa Blade~!"

"Muramasa Blade~!"

"Coming?"

Both hit each other with their Muramasa Blades while in mid-air and landed opposite each other while giving each other the back: the "Boundary" converged and Ruthless Vine groaned as he clutched his wound while Cosmo Man hissed under his breath.

"A draw… Hmpf… But then again… I guess none of these have experienced the true power of this "Boundary"…"

"I have. And I can destroy it with a special Battle Card I have. Hence why a while ago the guy didn't bother to use it on me again… I shattered it and the match ended up in a draw, more or less… He pulled a desperate last attack on me but he was pretty much weakened…"

"By all the… Huh! I'm off."

He warped out of the spot and Ruthless Vine also did so: Cosmo Man was rubbing his chin and looked mistrusting of something…

23:23 PM (Indiana Time), Tuesday March the 15th…

"… I-impossible… How did that guy cut the armored door like that?"

"D-dunno… RUN!"

"I seek the strong!"

"You mean me."

"You're named Colonel. Your disciple beat me… But I've improved!"

"Prove it."

"Fine!"

"Barbatos" had made it inside of the Ameroupe Army Base's Cyber World and Colonel came out to stand up to the guy's challenge: Colonel didn't waste his time and quickly clashed blades with "Barbatos": he jumped back with agility and his blade began to hum.

"Heh."

"Huh?"

"Barbatos" began to draw cuts across the air while holding the sword with both hands and aiming in several directions: each contact with Colonel's sword sliced off a segment of it and he began to accelerate the rate until it became mere small pieces which fell down into the ground: Colonel calmly formed a new one and it began to hum as well to clash with "Barbatos" and this time both blades remained intact.

"Hi-frequency blade… That's your newest strategy, huh?"

"Yeah! I thought no – one would be able to oppose me if I had it but it looks like I've underestimated you…"

"You did."

"Whatever. Hrah!"

"Amateur handling… It's no rival for me!"

"Che. Hard to chew guy…!"

"So? What's that power?"

"None of your business."

"Stolen from us?" Colonel questioned next.

"Who knows?" "Barbatos" countered.

"I've got the feeling we've met somewhere before."

"There was another holding another portion of this power."

"Ah. So that's how it is… Or not? I suspect you've improvised that reply to throw me off." Colonel looked suspicious.

"Che. Bothersome Holmes wannabe."

"Charmed." He drily replied.

"I thought you were serious!"

"I'm serious. Never heard of irony?"

"Never had any use for that! Now be deleted! Hra~h!"

"Stone Cube!"

"Barbatos" charged towards Colonel but he formed a row of three "Stone Cubes": "Barbatos" got busy trying to cut them which he did with the blade but lowered the guard as some missiles fell down and bombarded him followed by the Colonel Army soldiers who attacked him with Long Swords and Super Vulcan Batte Chips: he growled and stepped back while banging his chest.

"You stay quiet!" He hissed.

"Hum." Colonel looked suspicious.

"Wanna play CSI Indianapolis?" He sarcastically taunted.

"Why not." He shrugged with a dry look to his face.

"Nya~h…! Grah…! Che…! Guys like you make me feel… Rabidly! Overwhelmingly! Vehemently disgusted!" He growled.

"I'm not surprised. You're merely trying to test the sword's effectiveness and you didn't come to fight for long. If you have that dormant power why don't you use it to overwhelm us? Hmmm?"

"I'm not an idiot! This was something I picked in a rush without realizing the consequences! But I've gained new arts and skills! And one day I'll use them to topple Golden Star and Shunoros! And then you lowlifes!"

"Dream on. We know Kuroban beat you with ease. We've been keeping an eye on their Philippines base."

"Che. Well! But I'll find a weakness to his strategy!"

"I doubt there's one." Colonel calmly replied.

"So you admit you'll be pounded by the guy, too?" "Barbatos" tried to taunt Colonel.

"I am realistic. Unlike you."

"Yeah. This guy lives in La-La-La Land." Tomahawk Man muttered from close by.

"Che! Tactical escape! Flash-bang!"

He dropped a flash-bang grenade and escaped while Colonel rubbed his chin as if thinking about it.

"Hmmm… That man reeks…"

"Sure does… I think that he's afraid of losing to that power… Like how Darth Krayt was desperate to find a way to get rid of his Yuuzhan Vong implants which threatened to devour him… I know the circumstances are different but even so…"

"Hum. That could be…" Barrel muttered.

"Yikes." Dingo gulped.

"Let them dream on… In vain." Colonel sentenced.

"Yeah… Dream on but unless you improve a lot in a rush… Ya won't get anywhere at all… Give it up, dude…"

09:19 AM (Moscow Time), Wednesday March the 16th…

"… So, Laika – sama… What exactly happened the other day?"

"Hmpf. See, Search Man… I'd built up some speculation regarding Kage and that of yesterday confirmed it… The problem is… Most of them are based on wild speculation with little to no proof and most of the evidence is against me… So I don't think anyone will pay much attention to it."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

Laika was sitting on a chair inside of a room and working with a laptop while talking with Search Man.

"I'd been picked about _Noir_ for a while… His habit of hiding the face… No one seriously believed in the "car accident" excuse… There had to be something else… Maybe fear of recognition by parties affiliated to Nebula was a possibility… But looking back at everything from the start offered me another possibility… That his face is identical to Kage's…"

"So they would be brothers and to prevent favoritism accusations they act like they're unrelated to each other?"

"I thought that at first, too, and I think it was intended to be a red herring to distract anyone looking into it…"

"And what would be the real reason be?"

"Hmpf… Wait and don't cut me…"

"Understood, sir."

"How did it all begin? Back in 2008… Kage appears into the scene for the first time, coming from Chicago… He becomes a student of Akihara Middle School's 1-A Class along with Hikari Netto and his companions…"

"I know, sir."

"Summer 2009. 1st year ends: Kage is concerned because his uncle wants him to come back to Chicago amidst that climate of paranoia and left-wing rule of the Tea Party… The "Chicago Madness", it was named… They tried to isolate the whole city and treated any foreigners as conspirers."

"And Kage had a row with his uncle, who was part of the movement…"

"Yeah. He fled to Boston and then vanished altogether. No – one in Japan knew what had happened to him. He doesn't show up to join the 2 – A class. And the curtain falls upon him… Until February, 2010…"

"When Obihiro Shun tried to figure out some mysterious party who had charged programmer Omenda with a special program… He snuck into the agreement spot and discovered both Zarashe and Kage there…"

"Yeah. We then questioned Hikari about Kage and he was surprised that Kage had resurfaced but he'd gone through a change of behavior… We began to slowly figure out what happened within Golden Star… And the climax happened at the end of that year's summer… Their "System" to monitor data and relay it to parties was completed… But that gap between his disappearance in Boston and his reemergence in Japan picked me… Training, helping Golden Star make the first steps… No…"

"No…? There was another reason?"

"Because… Kage _is_ Hikari."

"B-but… Then…? What would that imply?"

"Easy! _Noir_ was the 1st Kage… They'd already drawn a plan behind the scenes during that 1st year… They'd stage a believable disappearance tale and then Hikari would be able to secretly train to replace Kage as he needed to assume his role as VP _Noir_… The Kage whom we've met several times starting 2 years ago _is_ Hikari… And _Noir_ is able to show up when the situation needs for it to remind everyone that they're 2 separate men…"

"But then… Rock Man is Andy, you mean to say? Is it possible to make one Navi become another?"

"I'm sure Slur learnt something from Serenade… If he could grant Rock Man "Soul Unison" and Blues the Muramasa Blade then I'm sure he knew something he shared with her…"

"I see. But then… That anger he seemed to be holding back and then unleashed on us with the "Ryuusei Form"…?"

"The incident with Rock Man DS… He actually has never forgiven us for what happened back then… Threatening to destroy a national system which had just started to recover from a disastrous crisis… And trying to delete him… I guess that, for his young mind, those were impossible to realize… Until we confessed about wanting to make sure that the one who'd assaulted our platoon was an imposter…"

"I see… He was also angry with Colonel for posting a bounty on him and chasing him… And then using him as bait for Forte… And I guess there had to be some reason why he got annoyed with Blues…"

"The "Saito Style" incident… Ijuuin was the one who was being nosy and wanted to figure out what it was about… I know that the ultimate trigger was Gospel's Air Man EXE, but, nevertheless… I guess he blames Blues from having him do that…"

"That makes sense, yes… But such a change… I still find it hard to fathom."

"I've been thinking about something else. Back in 2008… Hikari began the year looking like he'd gone through something which had shattered his whole self… He didn't laugh or smile. He looked indifferent at everyone and at his life. Nothing impressed him. Like he'd preferred to die before living that but he realized dying would be pointless…"

"But what could cause him and Rock Man to suffer that?"

"I'm stuck there. I'm sure something happened on that summer. I tried asking Superintendent Oda and he gave me a reprimanding look which told me not to stick out my nose in Hikari's life. I obeyed, of course."

"So Superintendent Oda knows it… But I doubt many more do…" Search Man muttered.

"I suspect Eisei knows his true ID too… Their rivalry must've led him to try to research if there was some point he could exploit and at some moment he must've connected the scattered clues…" Laika rubbed his chin.

"As you said, sir… It is very speculative, sir. I doubt anyone will take it seriously, sir… And with such overwhelming evidence which says the contrary, too, sir…"

"I know. Well. It can't be helped. The other day at the warehouse I realized he's using some system to imitate skin instead of your everyday latex mask…"

"Yo! Laika! You there? Uncle Igor wants his gin tonic back!" Someone knocked at his door from the outside and joked.

"Flippov. Scram."

"Oh? Scram in the spam?" He made up a pun.

"Private Flippov!"

"Yikes! Commissioner Malenkov, sir…!"

"Get to your post!"

"R-roger, sir…!"

"Really… Flippov won't learn to stay quiet!" Laika grumbled.

"So it'd seem, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh. Yo. _Danna_. Dreaming of vodka?"

"Huh? Who…? You're… Venomous Wolf, aren't you?"

Venomous Wolf showed up on the PC screen while grinning.

"I'd rather say you'll be chased by a berserk buffalo!"

"Don't tell me."

"I tell ya. To tell me, have you come to?"

"Not again with the Master Yoda parodies…!"

"Too bad. Let the snow hit the ice!"

"How lame." Search Man drily muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Beware! Private Madness will visit ya~…"

"How original."

"Heh, heh, heh. Gray was right: ya are the stiff type of guy~…"

"And what if?" Laika challenged back.

"Dunno. Ask no-one at all."

"Hmpf."

"Let's dance the anti-blues dance."

"Tell that to Blues." Search Man challenged with a shrug.

"Of course! Once I find out whether he's a fan of Elvis Presley or not."

"What has that do with anything, to begin with?" Laika sighed.

"Nothing and everything, Mr. Ivan." He laughed.

"Get lost in Panama already. You nosy flea."

"Nosy wolf, I'd rather say. Beware of Lobezno. Heh, heh, heh…"

Venomous Wolf vanished from the PC screen and Laika fumed: he suddenly heard rushed footsteps running down the corridor past him room so he stuck out his head to see someone running.

"A ghost! There's a ghost! Run for it!"

"Che. Venomous Wolf must've tricked Flippov with the hologram trick to begin with." He grumbled.

"What's their goal? To spread chaos?"

"Nah. The jerk's simply trolling us. I'll teach him a lesson yet."

"Affirmative, Laika – sama."

"The ghost of the wolf I shot down in the forest's come to reap my soul!"

"Someone give the guy a cold shower and let's end these gags."

He closed his door and sat back on the chair while fuming.

"Well, Hikari… I won't say anything… But one day I'll find a way to overcome you… Hmpf… Let the competition begin…"

Search Man rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat while Laika grinned…


	22. Chapter 22: Onboard life

**Chapter 22: Onboard life**

18:18 PM (Japan Time), Friday March the 18th…

"… I'm sorry, Oriol."

"Don't mind it, Netto – kun."

"But what if…?"

"I think that the guy doesn't have enough evidence."

"Oh! Yeah. I hadn't thought of that."

"And, also… There's something he can't shun."

"What?"

"The defeat of "Greizer", 5 years ago…"

"Ah! I'd forgotten about that… Whoa… 5 years already… This summer I'll turn 16…!"

Netto (wearing Kage's clothes) was sitting in a chair next to the desk in Kuroshiro's room and talking with him as Kuroshiro sat in front of him: he looked tired or defeated and Kuroshiro was trying to cheer him up.

"Huff. Really… That fool had to screw it up! We were fine with the guy: he was being kept under tabs there, in Sharo… Not like the guy will realize what happened 4 years ago… I'd rather wish it hadn't. But it's no use crying over spilled milk, anyway."

"Cheer up, Netto – kun. Your scores are the best, as always."

"Yeah, I know that. But I can't help feel anxious. That Barbatos guy is nothing: he improvises and then has to flee to save his hide. No. I'd rather be on the lookout for those desperados out there. Like the one we had a while ago…"

"I know, Netto – kun… I came to help you out there…"

"Sorry to be a burden, Oriol…"

"You're not a burden, Netto – kun!"

"Huff. My bad. I don't feel too cheery today."

"Come on. Don't let that idiot depress you. Be the usual you."

"The usual Kage Miquel? Or the usual Hikari Netto?"

"Huh… The usual Netto – kun, obviously…"

"Hmmm…" He looked up to something.

"OI! Not another session like last time, Netto – kun! That was horrible!"

"It was lovely. Admit it, Oriol… You wanted more of it!"

"I didn't! I'm an honest boy!"

"Who had sex with Enzan one night?"

"I don't boast about that! He wanted to have some, you couldn't come and it ended up like that!" He blushed.

"Heh, heh, heh. That red blush is lovely. I could stare at it all day long."

"Jeez! You can be so terrible from time to time, Netto – kun…!"

"So, my horny husband… Did ya see some hot videos last night?"

"Jeez! We're a _yaoi_ couple but we're not married!"

"Teasing ya~… Maybe we need to go _incognito_ to California?"

"No need to!" He cleared his throat as if trying to settle the discussion.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh! That blush!"

"Netto – kun!"

"Didn't ya want me to cheer up? That's what I'm doing! Maybe we need Zelos Wilder to show us how to charm a beauty?"

"That womanizer stupid _Miko_… No wonder Miss Shiina was always slapping the guy or keeping him in check!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe we need Kratos to show up and cast "Judgment" like in the _omake_ DVD bonuses of the OAVs?"

"Jeez."

"Isn't Mithos _kawaii_? And Yggdrassil's hot, too. But Genius has more _sex appeal_. Truly."

"Let's not be _shotacon_ here, Netto – kun!"

"Heh, heh, heh. But we were _shotacon_ when we began in 2009, right?"

"Jeez." He looked away.

"Oh! The horny blush!"

"JEEZ!"

"Heh, heh, heh. So? Bertha is still using Wan to play?"

"I don't butt into other people's sex life! I'm not Orwell's Big Brother!"

"Heh, heh, heh. So? Are you gonna show off chest in the deck?"

"No. And that's a definitive reply."

"Heh, heh, heh. Let's go hack Game Freak and get out hands in _Black 2_ and _White 2_."

"They surely aren't fully coded yet!"

"Kidding."

"Ah! We don't hack anyone, and you know it!"

"What about Zero? Doesn't he use _Duel Monsters_ to deal with intruders trying to come close to the Main Computer Cyber World?" Netto joked next.

"Jeez. That's not hacking. That's using a program in the shape of those monsters! It's an imitation! There! Settled!"

"Settled through Settling Monster."

"How lame."

"Let's invoke Indignant Judgment and use it to blow those desperados up with a bang and a shining bang!"

Netto suddenly stood up and walked to behind Oriol: he hugged him and began to lick the right ear from behind.

"It tickles! Let's not start again!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm unexpected, _koibito_ – san."

"Jeez. You sure are." He sighed.

Netto grinned and slipped his hands beneath the shirt Kuroshiro had to begin toying with his nipples: he began to moan.

"Well? Do you like this heating up?"

"Netto – kun…!"

Netto suddenly lifted Kuroshiro by passing his arms under the shoulders and brought him to the bed where he took off his sneakers to then loom over him: Kuroshiro blushed and looked elsewhere.

"Heh, heh, heh. So?"

"… Fine." He sighed.

"That's the Oriol I know."

"That's my coward self."

"Don't be so defeatist! You can have your payback…"

"Really…?" He looked surprised.

"Have you forgotten how we used to switch roles two years ago?" Netto reminded him.

"… Fine…" He looked animated now.

"Yeah… Bring out your full power! Come at full power! And leave at full power too!"

"Heh. I like how it sounds…"

"The stuff's in the cupboard, _honey_~…"

"Jeez. That was unnecessary."

"Heh, heh, heh."

Netto began to undress and Kuroshiro did the same: he then headed over to the cupboard and took out the stuff Netto had used on him the previous day: he began to set Netto up with it and then placed him face-up on the bed while he loomed over him with a sinister smile on his face as he caressed his jaw.

"You're a bad boy, Netto – kun. I need to punish you~…" He giggled.

Kuroshiro giggled and turned on the ass vibrator first followed by the bell-shaped one and the nipples' ones: he then began to lick Netto's jaw and tease his cock with his fingers by wrapping them around it and rubbing it with the right hand: he used the left one to pull a string connecting both nipples' clothes pegs to pull them up.

"Heh, heh, heh. You wanted it so badly~… Here you have~…"

He removed the ball-gag and stuffed his hardened cock into Netto's mouth: he began to calmly suck it up and follow Kuroshiro's pace while he kept on teasing him: he released inside of Netto's mouth and shared a kiss with him before replacing the ball-gag and slowly pulling out his anal beads: Netto arched from the spasms: Kuroshiro sneered and stuffed his cock into Netto's ass.

"You wanted it, eh, Netto – kun? You're the impatient type!"

Netto nodded and Kuroshiro lifted his legs to place them over his shoulders and pull Netto closer: he increased his pace and moaned in excitement before he released inside of him: he panted and grinned as he pulled the blankets over them and then stuffed three of his right hand's fingers into the hole.

"I'm gonna play A LOT with you~… My _cute_ Netto – kun…"

Netto shrugged his shoulders and Kuroshiro giggled as he began to pull his nipples' clothes pegs again.

"You want more? You'll have plenty of it, Netto – kun. This was the _aperitif_ so let's move on into the _main dish_! Heh!"

18:44 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Here!"

SMACK!

"Ah! More, Mistress!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Wan, Wan… Cha won't change! Ya like me hitting your ass with the ping-pong racket… Even though cha wear your boxers I can see your bulging penis… And this blindfold makes you look more like my pet, did cha know?"

"Y-yeah, Ikada – san… I guess I need something to stimulate me and vent off my frustrations or bad moods… Refreshing!"

"Isn't it? Tee, heh, heh. You love my strap-on play, too."

"I do! I do!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Sandra and Beta – chan are way more civil and they have no "love affair" at all… They respect each other and go spend their time in some other stuff, with each one going their way…"

"W-well, Tozukana – san surely has caught on but doesn't care because I admitted there's no real sex…"

"Hmpf… That gal's got too much of a temper! They should cool her with the coolant spray to freeze C4 bombs. Fatman – chan was a bad boy~…"

"Please… That sounds weird."

SMACK!

"Ah! I take it back, Mistress!"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

Ikada was playing with Zarashe in her room: she'd removed all of his clothing save his black boxers, seated him in a chair, and handcuffed his hands to be behind him while also blindfolding him: she just sported her usual street clothes and wielded a ping-pong racket: she began joking, Zarashe didn't like the joke, and she hit his ass.

"Speaking of Ping-Pong… Try to ID this quote… "Beej! How repulsing! Anyway, let's get to business! What do you know about Hong-Kong?" … "Everything, see! I was the champion in my village tournament! And we played with a dried potato!"… "HONG-KONG, not PING-PONG!"… "Well, well! Anyone can make a mistake!"… "You mean the Choina Restaurant two blocks south, right?"… "NO! I mean the King Land territory in the Sea of Choina! See there, in the map! Hong – Kong!" … "Heck! Don't press us against the map! A Choina guy got into the eye!"…"

"I know… It's an adventure of M&F titled "Bye-bye, Hong-Kong!" and set in 1997, dealing with the return of the colony to Choina… And some foreign agent trying to sabotage the negotiations and spark World War III… We heard that in October…" Zarashe explained.

"… "30 years! Che! 30 years close in there! I didn't see anything in 30 years! I didn't see street-lights! I didn't see street-cars! I didn't see a single Barcelona VS Madrid match! I didn't see my Chickpea Flower girlfriend! I didn't see ANYTHING! But I shall have revenge! Hah, hah, hah! Since I _didn't see_, I'll create the… No Vel Award! Tremble, you repulsing world! Hah, hah! Ten-Go-Pis' vengeance is about to befall!"…"

"Yeah… It's a pun… Since Ibañez makes Oriental characters switch the "r" for the "l", "No Vel" is a pun on "No Ver", which is "Not Seeing"… But, ultimately, it's a pun on the Nobel Award… And "Ten-Go-Pis" literally means "Gotta-Pee"… Along with his manservant "Ku-Kal-Acha or "Cock-ro-ach"… A series of awards aimed at the Mafia guys to see which gang can drown or poison more citizens… That was in November…"

"Tee, heh, heh. Good memory, M&F Pedia!"

"Oh please!"

SMACK!

"Uah! I'm sorry, Mistress!"

"Tee, heh, heh. I love hearing to your moans… They turn you on: look how your indecent penis is dancing inside of your boxers…"

"Yikes."

Zarashe blushed when he noticed his cock had gotten hard: Ikada began to hit from the sides and swing it with the racket.

"Uah! Oh! Ah! Good… Feels good…! Please bully me…!"

"Dear me… What a masochist you are, Wan! Tee, heh, heh!"

"Uah! Oh! Ah…! Good…! It makes me feel the thrill!"

"… "Yes, Mr. Director! Understood, Mr. Director. As you command, Mr. Director. We're going to organize THE GREAT SOIREE! Mortadelo! Filemón! You wouldn't refuse to work in a mission even if it was a monotone one, right?"… "That's the type I like!"… "Why! Me too! They drive me mad!" … "You don't realize how much I appreciate your enthusiasm. And if you had to pick between a pink mission and a really black mission…?"… "The black one! I want the black one!" … "Huh! Don't steal it, Mortadelo! That's mine!"… "Why! Your courage knows no limits… Well! The mission I'm charging you with is rather delicate. I hope you'll behave and…!" … "A kiss! I'd go for a kiss!" … "And for crushing hugs…!"… "Devil! What in the…? AH!"… "Well! This model with the two-piece bath-suit…"… "Which one, Boss? The one with two ribbons in the head?"… "Take girls, take them!"… "Quit it, Mr. Super! We don't like the explosive type!"…"

"Huff! The Great Soiree… The beginning reminds me of _The Flying Tea-Cups_, the one Superintendent Oda liked so much… Mr. Super begins to tell them about the mission but they're actually not paying attention and looking at a magazine with girls posing in revealing outfits…"

"Tee, heh, heh. Bad guys will be bad guys… Here!"

SMACK!

"Ah! Yeah! More, Mistress! I beg of you!"

"You beg of me? That's a first, Wan. We gotta celebrate this with some champagne!"

"Please…"

SMACK!

"Uah! More~…!"

"Tee, heh, heh."

"… "Well! Back to work! There's the envelope… And I don't want to see any more spies in this place!"… "Got an idea, Boss! Hush, hush… A banner… Hush, hush… A door… Hush…"… "That's it!"… "Devil! They kept their word! I don't see one… I see four hundred!" … "BANNER: EVEN HIGHER SECRETS"… "Well, well. But I don't think you'll see them again, see~…"… "DEVIL!"… "HUH?"… "Mommy~! Mommy~!" … "His old man!"… "Ah!"…"

"A short story named "Hot Day" in which Mr. Super complains about so many spies in the "TIA" HQ… M&F actually think of a way to get rid of them by placing a door leading to the outside from a higher floors and that banner of "Even Higher Secrets"… To think the gate-keeper was having the spies pay for their entrance to come spy… The "TIA" sure has a lot of holes when it comes to security!"

"Tee, heh, heh."

SMACK!

"Uah! I'm going off!"

"Go off, then."

Zarashe released and panted while Ikada put on a strap-on and lowered the rear part of Zarashe's boxers: she crouched and began to pump into his ass: Zarashe moaned and used the racket to hit his cock again to further play with him.

"Tee, heh, heh. So? Leon – chan is next?"

"Ah no! I'm serious here! The guy got abused by his big sis for 3 years and by Sieg! Let him live free, Ikada – san! He'd been driven to the edge and almost thought of suicide!"

"Yikes! S-sorry… I didn't know that… I was never told the exact reason he was brought onboard… I thought he'd run away from being bullied and we offered him a place to stay because he had no other place…"

"Well! Now you know! But don't make publicity of it either."

"Huff. OK, OK."

SMACK!

"Ow! Yeah! Like that…!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Let's continue where we left off at, Wan – chan."

Ikada began pumping again and smacking his cock: Zarashe kept on moaning while Ikada giggled under her breath.

"This is _femdom_, Wan… Remember it!"

"I know! _Female domination_…! And I like it! I'm the type of guy who'd rather not get involved into complicated spots…"

"And unlike most _femdom_ _manga_ out there I don't intend to use you as a way to have sex… Nah… That's _clichéd_! I'm the type who'd rather bully cha bit and have cha admit that cha are a masochist…"

"O~h… That's fine for me, anyway…!"

"Tee, heh, heh. You wouldn't know? I suspect Andy and Legato are lovers… And that Miquel is VP _Noir_'s lover, too…"

"Yeah… I always thought that of the car accident was a pretty lame excuse for hiding his face… He must actually fear recognition by someone and just to be safe… O~h…"

"Tee, heh, heh! Sure, sure. Now go see Ms. Sure."

"Very… funny…! O~h!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Maybe we need Prophet Jeremy to prophesize that a large cow will crush Barbatos?"

"Oh please…! Ikada – san! Let's not start with that crappy Prophet Jeremy guy again!" He complained.

"Too bad, Wan – chan. Let's keep on!"

"O~h! Gimme a break already~!"

19:02 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo."

"So?"

"Don't be so cold, _ani-ue-sama_~! I send ya greeting from Panama!"

"Store them in the cupboard. Along with your ambition."

"So you still resent me, eh?"

"Who wouldn't?"

"Good counter-question, dude."

"Who knows?"

Leon had been working on his homework when Sieg suddenly contacted him through the PET: Leon wasn't impressed in the least while Sieg had that cocky grin on his face.

"Heh, heh, heh. Behold! The End is about to come!"

"I dunno who that is and I don't need to know."

"Don't be so stiff, man!"

"I am who I am."

"Huff. You were more cheery before!"

"I wasn't. End of the tale. Get out of my life, Siegfried."

"Oi! Wait!"

Leon cut the call and inputted some commands into the PET.

"Don't patch in any foreign calls with numbers out of my phone-book."

He sighed and then interacted with the laptop: he spotted a post in the blog which included a video of Pharaoh Man surrounded by a bunch of tug-like Net Navis: Pharaoh Man simply formed two laser beams from his forehead and drew two circles from which a Dream Aura – like wall with ceiling formed and trapped them inside.

"Wow." Leon whistled.

"Hum! You plebeians are but caged mice. The authorities will wrap up everything. Learn how foolish it was to defy the guardians of stability, you mice."

"Damn you~!"

"Video provided by the Excellent Video Man!" A voice off-screen chuckled.

"I knew it."

There was a beep and a Skype icon rang out: Leon sighed and patched it in to reveal a close-up of Tozukana's face.

"Yo~! Leon! Wanna hang out with me?"

"No, Tozukana – san. It leads to disaster."

"Man! Ya lack thrill in life!"

"Thrill leads to disaster."

"See?" Lily sighed in the background.

"Cha stay out this business! Go screw Sandra!"

"I don't need to. I have enough with glaring at her."

"Che!"

"I don't want to get into a mess like you've done before with Ms. Secretary, Joanne – chan."

"Go date Tom!"

"He's too cold to get anywhere, anyway. He prefers going and practicing his knife skills with tug jerks out there."

"Che. If only Felix Leiter had let the guy be more macho…" Tozukana grumbled.

"Qong! Felix Qong! Stop with the James Bond joke!"

"I expect you to vanish, Ms. Lily!" She taunted.

"How funny."

"Huff."

"Anyway! So?"

"My answer won't change, Tozukana – san. Good afternoon."

"OI!"

"I saw it coming."

Leon cut the call and rolled his eyes: he leant back on his chair and then opened the window to allow some air in.

"Tozukana – san won't learn. Suzuki – san is nicer, anyway. I think she's working in something at the DNN TV Station… It's gotta be a busy life, handling most of the make-up jobs…"

"… Grua~h!" A roar rang out.

"PUKU~!"

"Jeez. Zero – san had to scare Bubble Man so that he didn't come to snoop where he didn't belong… The guy's bothersome… He managed to get all the Navi crew annoyed at him last summer and Zero – san ended up chasing him for a while… He still won't learn the name is "Oreichalcos" and not "Ore Chalks"…" Leon rolled his eyes.

"To all members: make sure to keep the anti-virus and anti-spyware up-to-date… You can't lower the guard." Zero's voice broadcasted through the speakers with a hint of annoyance.

"Good. I'll take care of that."

"And to all Navis: beware of bugs and other malicious data which you might come into contact during your sorties."

"True, true…" Leon distractedly muttered as he updated the software.

"I gotta improve the random warp gateways…!" He grumbled.

"You really need to, Zero – san… Huff…"

19:11 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Ah… Yeah… Like that… Legato…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Saito – kun likes this pose, eh?"

"Sure… Tease my nipples more…"

"You really wanted to vent off your mood, eh?"

Saito and Legato were having sex in Kage's (or, rather, Netto's) bedroom: Legato had taken off his armor save for the helmet and the shades and Saito was sitting on his lap while looking forward: Legato was pinching his nipples with the left hand while he used the right to tease Saito's cock: his own cock had been stuffed into Saito's insides too.

"Sure… Anyway… I'm starting to formulate an idea of who "Barbatos" really is but I don't want to say anything yet… I think that… If the guy and Andy met… The Ryuusei Form's power would trigger their dormant power and thus it'd become the biggest proof of all."

"Hum. Alright. But don't underestimate the guy either, Saito – kun."

"Not like I intended to."

"That's my Saito – kun."

"Yeah. And I think _otouto_ is having Oriol set him up with the S&M stuff and Oriol must be unloading the annoyance of last time. Now they'll be at peace with each other. Heh."

"Oriol – sama needed something to improve his mood, yeah."

"Maybe we can begin slowly? I miss those sessions… All building up inside of you to then be released… I managed to get dreamless nights afterwards and without stress… S&M is also a good way to vent off your bad mood and end up relaxed, Legato."

"Yeah… I was about to suggest it to you… We stopped as a consideration to your pal Hikawa, who'd gone over the incidents of being raped by Urateido and almost sold to a club and those crazy "Sisterhood of Pureness" gals who hated _yaoi_ and _yuri_ and would torture them…"

"Yeah. Without realizing the irony: that they were doing _femdom_ and that's outside of "normal" intercourse… The lead woman sure was cruel, trying to blame Meiru – chan and Yaito – chan for that… And her accomplice kept on raping Meiru – chan while she kept her hostage: I'm glad we managed to put an end to them before it escalated."

"I know. Well. By the way… What do you think about Atarasei?"

"Oscar? Well. He's a nice guy. He and Alex make up a good combination: I know he, Netto – kun and Oriol have organized threesomes from time to time but I wouldn't mind going for a five-some with the wooden horse: like we did shortly after he joined us one year ago…"

"Hmmm… Yeah… That'd be cool…" Legato was seemingly day-dreaming by now.

"Heh, heh, heh. I set the seed of desire in you, eh, Legato? By the way: are Victor and Joel away these days?"

"They have major exams in their college, anyway. But he's keeping up-to-date with the blog. That Hong-Kong and Ping-Pong joke wasn't too bad, you know…"

"Yeah. Heh, heh, heh. And Mr. Super stuffed the ping-pong racket in Mortadelo's mouth out of annoyance. He then rammed their faces against the world map in the wall… That reminds me of another story, "Lots of Corruption", about the chase for the corrupt General Police Director and how they drew a circle in a world map encompassing most if not all of the world and claiming the guy was somewhere inside of the circle… In short: they had no idea to begin with." Legato laughed.

"Heh, heh, heh… O~h! I'm going off, Legato!"

"Heh! I'm going off too!"

Saito released and he triggered Legato's release: he snickered and laid face-up on the bed while pulling the blankets over them.

"There's more!"

"Yeah! See you around… To be continued! Heh, heh, heh!"


	23. Chapter 23: Video & Musketeer

**Chapter 23: Video & Musketeer**

10:20 AM (Japan Time), Saturday March the 19th…

"… Well, well, well… By Uncle Moran! Video Man's here to greet and film you guys! Heh, heh, heh."

"Found you. Golden Star."

"Ah! Barbatos, is it? Good, good. Let's see how much you'll last."

"That's my motto."

"You still don't know about my abilities."

"I'm the strongest."

"Then prove it."

A Golden Star Net Navi had been walking around the Reverse Internet when "Barbatos" called out to him.

The Navi, Video Man, had a black-colored face and his eyes were colored green.

He had a metallic structure set around and atop the head which included two dials on the sides of it and three connection ports colored yellow, white and red from left to right.

The Net Navi's body's main color was black but he had a round "play" symbol colored green set on the middle of the chest with two round buttons on both sides of it: a shape reminiscent of the Alphabet letter "V" was set above the "play" symbol plus a round circle drawn around on the base of his neck.

His shoulders were shaped like spheroids but were different: the left one was gray metallic while the right one was black with a red dome-shaped piece set atop it.

His arms' "skin" was black in color, too, but he had two parallel circular green stripes set slightly beneath the shoulder: his forearms were metallic and had some kind of tape set on them.

The forearms were interconnected with each other: his hands were colored black, too, and had no outstanding features on either of them.

The rest of his torso was colored black and it had another green-colored shape reminiscent of the Alphabet letter "V" set on it towards the spot where a person's stomach would be at.

His legs had four small "V" shape stripes set on a vertical row around the hips: four of them.

Another two circular stripes parallel to each other were placed around the knees and on the ankles: his feet were shaped like rectangles.

"Heh, heh, heh. Wind Cutter!"

"Hmpf."

Video Man formed a roll of video-tape and shot it forward to be repelled by "Barbatos": Video Man grinned as "Barbatos" ran towards him.

"Tape-line! Fast Escape!"

"What?"

Several tape-lines formed and "Barbatos" got busy cutting them as Video Man warped and appeared behind him.

"Wind Cutter!"

"Uack!"

The blow hit him from behind and "Barbatos" turned around to jump towards Video Man but he smirked.

"Tape-line! Fast Escape! Wind Cutter!"

"Uack! Shit! Hra~h! Hrah! Hah!"

"Barbatos" began to swing around the sword in a maddening manner but Video Man then stopped in a higher platform and (literally) looked down on the guy.

"Witness! My masterpiece! Playback! Playback! Playback! Playback!"

His tape glowed as he sticked it out and projected some light which gave way to a copy of "Barbatos" and several more began to form: they began to imitate his earlier movements and "Barbatos" became busy trying to destroy them.

"I can record an opponent's movements and play them back! Countless times! Let's see if your sword can cut air." He snickered.

"Damn this guy!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Struggle, struggle AND STRUGGLE~!"

"Hruh! Hah! Die, die AND DIE~!"

"Playback! Playback! Playback! Playback!"

Video Man began to produce further copies and "Barbatos" soon found his hide surrounded by a huge army of them: he was panting and looked like moving too much with the armor tired him out.

"S-shit. Stupid armor… But I need it… Or else…!" He grumbled.

"Your body will quickly corrode and die? Like Aogiri~?"

"Shut the trap up…! Huff, huff…! Die!"

He picked the sword and spun upon his axis to eliminate a row of the circle of copies but another advanced forward and a new one formed behind them: he growled and plunged his sword into the ground: it began to crack and gaps began to open so the copies fell down them: he jumped over them while carrying his sword and began to head for Video Man: he wasn't surprised and when "Barbatos" tried to hit him from behind he shattered a mirror and gasped.

"What?"

"Wind Cutter!"

"Uack!"

"Predictable! Too predictable, by Moran!"

"Damn this jerk!"

"So? Is he there, Video Man?"

"Indeed, ma'am!"

"Damn it. This is bad… Gotta scram… I'll settle it another day!"

Slur suddenly appeared higher in the air while emitting a radiant yellowish glow from around her body: Video Man kneeled and bowed to salute and "Barbatos" gasped so he dropped down the platform he was in and towards the depths.

"Go back. I shall handle this."

"Roger, ma'am!"

Slur smirked and became a streak of yellowish energy which headed downwards and shot past "Barbatos" yet he didn't see it because the streak fell down behind him: he landed in a deeper level and ran towards the edge of another platform to then jump down even deeper: a purplish glow was coming from further in.

"The Virus Lab… I can hide there and use the Viruses to stall that woman and make my escape…! I'm not ready yet to face that woman…!"

He landed next to the Virus Lab and several Security Navis aimed Cannon Battle Chips at him: he simply ran forward while swinging the sword to deflect the blows and rammed into the double doors of the building: he rushed into a hall and closed them from the inside while panting to recover his breath.

"Phew. Too close, too close…"

He then headed for another pair of doors and cut them to pieces with the hi-frequency sword: the insides of this room had a lot of small and large capsules containing several kinds of Viruses in stasis and submerged in a purplish liquid: a holographic screen hovered in front of each capsule to display the species' name and some information.

"Hum. So they're trying to improve their bodies to increase their HP and their attack points, huh? By installing bugs inside them they can create some kind of core to draw power… That rings a bell somewhere…"

"Who goes there?"

"Hmpf. Rubbish. Die."

"Ugra~h!"

He cut another Security Navi to pieces and then headed to another room further in which had a real Dream Virus inside of a large stasis tank: several wires were linked to it and its core was missing: it was placed behind it and across the room in another stasis tank and it could be seen that it was still incomplete, missing about 10% of its mass.

"Dream Virus, huh… Like the one those "WWW" fools created about 5 years ago… I'd rather not toy with this thing… It could go beyond my current power for all I know and… Ugh! The jerk… They're reacting to the "pressure" of the incomplete Dream Virus… Stay shut!"

"Shut down?" Someone joked.

"Who…?"

He looked at his left and spotted Gray Thunderbolt there, folding his arms, closing his eyes and leaning against the left wall.

"Gray Thunderbolt. Shunoros."

"Kuroban's dog…"

"Wha~t? We're pals!" He growled.

"A dog is a dog."

"Hmpf! A plebeian is a plebeian! Colonel Olrik says YOU FAIL!"

"Colonel Olrik? Who's that? A "WWW" survivor?"

"Hah, hah, hah! Nah… Look it up yourself, Mr. Anderson! I expect you to struggle!" He sneered.

"So. There you were."

"Huh! The woman! She found me!"

"Yikes. Slur…! I don't wanna come any closer to her…!"

Slur suddenly appeared by opening a "gateway" and landed behind "Barbatos" who turned around and gasped: Gray Thunderbolt gasped and looked nervous.

"A Dream Virus… Curious. This room was not built 3 days ago. That is a pretty fast development… Maybe they were doing it in the mainland for security reasons but brought it here for the final stage and to begin field testing…" She muttered.

Gray Thunderbolt opened his own "gateway" and ran away but "Barbatos" ran in too and it closed: Slur shrugged.

"I care not. He shall come back. Now… I should take note of this and suggest a course of action to President Hades… It would be best if it was not completed, yet… They want bugs so badly… We shall grant them some terrific bugs… Hmpf… We shall make it run berserk inside of this facility and destroy it… It will save us and this nation from a lot of trouble."

She warped outside of the building and calmly began to fly up: some thunderbolts began to fall around her as if trying to hit her.

"It is not Gray Thunderbolt… Ah. I see."

She simply increased her speed and drew an arc across the sky as she landed behind Thunder Man.

"So it was you."

"Yikes! I t-thought it was some runaway Virus!" He gasped as he turned around.

"Ah. In that case… I shall let it slip."

"Woho~! That's a cool Navi! Is that a Shunoros guy?"

"Huh… I don't think so, Aragoma – sama…"

King Man happened to land there and Aragoma Torakichi whistled.

"No. I am Golden Star. And I am a woman."

"Whoa! You look like a guy at the first glance."

"Well. I guess that. My design is somewhat androgynous."

"Andro-what? Android?" He didn't seem to know the word.

"Androgynous. It means that you cannot tell at a first glance if the opponent is male or female."

"I should note it down, too…" Raoul muttered.

"Do tell Colonel that I shall not allow his sinner self to try to steal by force the data we manage… Or there shall be… consequences… Namely… the unleashing of my anger…" She directed a glare which could kill at Thunder Man.

"YIKES! R-roger… B-but I ain't Colonel's proxy! I was just dropping by and wanted to meet Blues!"

"I did not say you were. Yet I know that you are in contact with him."

"Ah! Y-yeah, that's true, yeah… G-gotta go… Let's go, Raoul!"

"Y-yeah… _Go!_ _Masked Thunder_!"

"Oh?" Slur looked amused.

"JEEZ!"

Thunder Man warped out of the area and Slur glanced over her right shoulder: King Man was using his helpers to fight a pack of 3 Garuu Viruses and was managing.

"Well. I should better go back."

"Slur – sama? Ah! What a coincidence. I was looking for you, ma'am."

"Akemi? Is something the matter?"

"Well… Legato – san wasn't onboard so I wanted to report to a superior…"

Akemi dropped in and saluted so Slur landed on the ground and looked slightly surprised.

"It's about one of Leon – kun's classmates… Hikari Saito – kun… I got a hold of some information..."

"Is someone trailing them?"

"More or less… A freelance reporter dropped by the station today and let out that she was planning to write a biography of Hikari Netto – kun given how it's been 5 years since the "Greizer" incident yet he has been largely forgotten… But she told Marta – chan that "there's a conspiracy on that big bro's life"… Luckily she only told her because they happen to know each other…"

"Hum. What else?"

"Well. Marta – chan asked if she had the family consent but she said she needn't it and that they'll be glad to get a lot of profits… In short: she's gotten in the mood and may bring up something which shouldn't be brought up… It could open some old wounds, we believe…"

"Hum. I do not much about them, yet… Opening up old wounds always brings up resentment and other negative emotions which one thought had left behind… This will not do."

"So… What should I do?"

"I shall tell Legato. He and Vice President _Noir_ will handle it. Is there some public source of info about this project?"

"Her own page… She's written a couple of rather successful investigative journalism books…"

"Good. You act like nothing happened. Legato shall handle the rest: he will find a reason to tell that reporter to not to bring up old wounds."

"Understood. The name is Terrakana Mikuko."

"And you did well on telling me. Do not worry about protocol: if the situation calls for it, then…"

"Roger, Slur – sama. I shall be going."

"Go."

Akemi warped out and Slur muttered something under her breath: she now looked rather annoyed.

"Bringing up old wounds which will hurt others… All for the sake of "money"… And "fame"… Things which lead humans to civil war and in-fighting and lust and greed and envy… I shall not let them."

She warped out and appeared inside of a tall "room" in the Cyber World which had several folders and vertical tubes from which raw data poured to then go through some filters each having a tag: the data began sorted out and then flew into each folder: the whole "room" had the feeling of being very tall and that she was hovering close to the very top where a round stone platform made of gray basaltic rock had been set at as some kind of control post from where to oversee the whole system's functions: Zero was sitting in an armchair there and managing several holographic screens along with Program – kuns.

"Zero."

"Huh. Boss. What's up?"

"Figure out the email address of Terrakana Kikuko."

"Terrakana? The author of "_Why The Electrical Bill Is A Lie"_?"

"I guess so. Akemi told me she is about to investigate something which could bring up old wounds… And it would be best to try to convince her to stay away from that. Find out something else which would not bring up old wounds but would be "exciting" enough to divert her attention there."

"Roger. I'll work on something. Is it urgent?"

"Hmmm… If we could settle it before next week, then…"

"OK. Leave it to me, Boss."

"Good. Ah! Do not tell anyone else. To be on the safe side…"

"Roger. These guys can only carry packages and help me manage lesser data and directories so…"

"Good."

Slur floated out of the room while Zero sighed and began to interact with some screens.

"Let's see~… Hum… Why don't I suggest to this journalist to write a book about Einstein? _Einstein Revisited: Shooting Down Myths and Conspiracies_ would have a catchy title… And there's so much of this stuff… Let's try mailing her… And telling her "a fan" would like this to be the next project and that they have to surrender in front of her style… I hope this gets in the mood and forgets about this current project…"

He typed into one of the screens and then had it be enclosed within a mail envelope: a Program – kun had it hover over its head and jumped down towards one of the four large shafts at the bottom of the room which looked like they were pretty wide and deep.

"There. I've told the guy to take a long route to make any amateur tracing hard and I hope we can settle the topic like this."

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP!

"Hmpf. Another bunch of desperados got fooled by a warp gate and warped into the MI6: they did want us to divert desperados their way to interrogate them and figure out what parties out there could pose a future national security threat… Since they're Navis they just knock them out and download their whole memory files before warping them back at their nation's borders. Easy money."

He then turned on another screen which showed the surroundings of the Virus Lab: a "gateway" opened and "Barbatos" was thrown there in a totally unceremoniously manner: his armor had all kinds of blows and hits upon its surface.

"Heh. I guess he ended up meeting more than just Gray Thunderbolt and they gave him a beating up… You were bad battling just one opponent: did you really expect to hold your ground against more than one?"

"Damn it. I'll remember this, Shunoros! Barbatos has spoken!"

"Hmpf. Boast while you can, Mr. Walking Armor…"

"I'm off!"

"Through the Off Gate, huh? Heh, heh, heh."

12:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hiya~… Mr. Conspiracy~…"

"Wrong number, Miss."

"No, no. I know it's the right number, Saito – chan."

"You might be mistaking the person."

"No, no. I'm looking for Hikari Saito – chan."

"Then that's me."

"So?"

"So… What?"

"What's the tale?"

"Do excuse me?"

"Why do you suddenly show up of nowhere starting 2 years ago? Where'd you pop out from? There's no register I can't grasp anywhere!"

"… Investigative journalist… Ever heard of "privacy"?"

"But this is for the sake of your fame~…"

"MY fame? What nonsense is that, Miss?"

"Terrakana."

Saito (wearing his street clothes which were a blue sleeveless vest over a white shirt, jeans, socks and sneakers) had been sitting in a chair in his house's balcony and reading a novel when his PET beeped: he'd replied to the call and first looked unimpressed to then look slightly annoyed.

"Miss Terrakana. Thin ice. That's my only reply. What do you want?"

"I'm gathering materiel to write a biography of your lil bro."

"You didn't ask for his permission. Did you ask our parents?"

"Who needs that?"

"All biographies are done with the permit of…"

"And if I wanted to do an Einstein biography? Then?"

"You'd need to ask his descendants. Or promise the editorials which have published other biographies that yours isn't a copy."

"Tee, heh, heh… So? Maybe you're not really the hero's big bro?"

"Where are you getting at?"

"That you're Rock Man EXE, using the "Copy Roid" tech to exist in the real world… And both your Operator and his parents loved so much the idea that they had another son that they set up a cover to make you look like you'd been hospitalized for long due to an illness… And that you got cured 2 years ago…" The voice giggled.

"Some things are better off not knowing, Miss."

"My! How cold. What happened to the co-hero of 5 years ago?"

"He grew, Miss. And is enjoying anonymity."

"Ah! So the pressure was too much for you to bear with? I remember there was a peak of fame to you after the Dream Virus thing and when you were found to be alive afterwards… It died down when you apparently "died" back then…"

"I can complain to the police for consulting personal data without my explicit written consent. There are data protection laws for citizens under 20 years old. I could quote you some."

"Oho! So you're gonna be a shining lawyer?"

"Who knows?"

"My, my. Truly. How cold."

"I am how I am. I do not live by _clichés_, which you seem to do. Now please pull back from my life or I could denounce you. And I don't think you looking up those registers have gone unnoticed."

"What?"

"I asked the Net Police to set some triggers on that data just in case someone tried to use it against me. I'm somewhat paranoid."

"Wha?" She gasped.

"So expect a call from them anytime now."

"I can't believe the co-hero who saved the world…!"

"…would do this? People change, Miss. I'm 16. I've gone through some experiences. And some friends told me one should be wary and picture several _scenarios_ before they happen."

A phone rang out on the other end of the line and Terrakana gasped: Saito shrugged.

"Do excuse me."

"O-oi! Wait a min…!"

BEEP!

"Huff."

"What happened, Saito – niisan?" Netto (wearing his usual vest, shirt and jeans) popped his head out.

"Some nosy reporter who'd figure out I'm Rock Man… But she won't get any further… She triggered the alarms…"

"Ah."

"They wanted to write a biography of you. But sans permission."

"Because she knew I'd refuse?"

"I guess that she thought that once the profits started flowing in you'd be charmed by those and let it slip away."

"What the… I don't need fame or fortune! I'm glad as I am. Try writing a biography of the Gabcom founder." He grumbled in annoyance.

"I guess Superintendent Oda will give her a scolding she isn't likely to forget anytime soon." He shrugged.

"Really…"

"I know. People can be silly from time to time."

"By the way… Do you think that "Barbatos" will come to fight you?"

"Even if he does fight me… as Rock Man… he'll surely flee before I can full attest if our suspicions are correct…"

"Hum. Yeah. Sounds like a probable _scenario_ alright…"

"Huh. PET's ringing… Superintendent Oda. Hello?"

"Hello, Hikari Sr. – kun. We had to arrest a journalist who hacked into your personal data without written consent from you or us. She's started to babble nonsense, conspiracy maniac… We'll give her a scolding. Be on the lookout: can you ask Golden Star to improve the security?"

"I will, sir. I am sorry to bother you, sir."

"Don't mind it. I don't want people to begin posting things out of context because then chaos and madness begin."

"…disguised as a…!" Terrakana was yelling in the background.

"As Uncle Merton's favorite nephew?" He got into his cheery mood.

"HUH?"

"Uncle Merton had a proverb for this. Those who stick out their chins too much tend to end up stained in black ink."

"E~H?" She sounded terrified.

"Heh." Saito made a smug grin.

"Oi, oi." Netto looked surprised.

"In short: those who mess around end up in a messing mess provided by Messier, the Mess Goddess."

"E~H? NO WAY~! I'M CURSED!"

"In essence, young lady, in essence. Elemental, my dear Uncle Merton."

Netto rolled his eyes and Saito looked amused.

"Please, Superintendent!" An officer complained.

"Officer Saranta! Behold! The Ultimate Joker On Earth's Surface!"

"I give up…"

"Join the club." Another officer sighed.

"I get the irony."

"LET GO OF ME, SHADOW COPS!"

"Shadow cops? We're the Net Police. Not some secret org."

"Hum! Just behave and admit you've done something illegal. Hacking is hacking." Oda turned serious.

There were some sounds and Oda sighed in relief.

"My, my. They finally got her out and into the patrol car. Guess she's gonna send me a voodoo doll by post mail."

"I wouldn't be surprised, sir."

"Oh! True. Yo! Hikari Jr. – kun. Been a while! Do you remember Uncle Merton's greetings words? Uncle Merton says you're - FIRED!"

"Yeah. You used those 2 years ago when the _Scherezade Symphony_ deal."

"Heh, heh, heh. My. 2 years already…! Time flies by. The Flying Time!"

"Truly, sir."

"Oi, oi! Saito – niisan! Don't fuel his moods!"

"Too bad, Nettie – chan. I'm inspired."

"Lovely."

"Heh, heh, heh. Well, well, well. See you around!"

"Alright, Nettie – chan. Let's trek the road to the conclusion!"

"Jeez! Stop with the weird nicknames, Saito – niisan! I don't like them!"


	24. Chapter 24: Densan Squad: Attack!

**Chapter 24: Densan Squad: Attack!**

18:23 PM (Japan Time), Monday March the 21st…

"… Guts, guts! Guts Hammer!"

"Glyde Cannon!"

"Hah! Barrier!"

"Guts Punch!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Kawarimi!"

"Grah!"

"Well. That's a _slight_ improvement."

"Yeah. Just a _slight_ one."

"Huff. I hope Yaito – chan doesn't try to pull a show on us anymore."

"I hope so, too, Sakurai – san."

"Don't you, Tooru – kun? Jeez."

"Desu… Huff."

"I know, Ice Man, I know… I can't help being defeatist, too."

The 4-A students had gathered in Yaito's tree-house: Meiru, Netto, Saito and Hikawa sat on the sofa as Yaito and Dekao carried on with a Net Battle they were having: their Navis looked defeatist along with the Operators as if expecting Yaito to pull something,

"Super Vulcan!"

"Tee, heh, heh. Kawarimi!"

"Not again!"

"Yeah! You can have 3 samples of the same Chip!"

"I knew that!"

"Cha don't seem to, Mr. Fatty Body!"

"Wha~t? Oi! Yaito!"

"Tee, heh, heh!"

"Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In! Mugen Vulcan!"

"Not bad! But! Ojiouzan!"

"Gattsu~!"

"Stand up, Guts Man! Recovery 200! Go!"

"Guts, guts! Guts Hammer!"

"Barrier!"

"Che! Yaito's playing defensive! Running away…! Huh? Ah! Wait! I got it, I got it! Mister Oda told me! If they go into defense for a while is because they want me to waste lotta Battle Chips and then I'm left with almost nothing to counter-attack! Too bad, Yaito! I got something ready to deal with defenses! Uninstall!" Dekao grinned.

"What!"

"I asked that Obihiro guy to program it to cancel all Defense Battle Chips!"

"Weird. Why would Obihiro do that and not tell us?" Netto frowned.

"Maybe Superintendent Oda said he wanted it for himself." Saito shrugged.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Hikawa muttered.

"I wouldn't, either." Meiru shrugged, too.

"Che! This is no fun! Fatty Body using the brains…" Yaito complained while fuming.

"Wha~t? Take that back, Yaito – chan!"

"And if I don't want to? Tee, heh, heh!"

"Trouble." The four spectators and Roll sighed.

"Trouble, desu."

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

"What?" Yaito gasped.

"Who dares to get in OUR way?" Dekao growled.

"Barbatos."

"So. You showed up. As expected." Netto muttered.

"Yeah. It doesn't surprise me in the least."

"What?"

Barbatos appeared on the field and was displayed by the Net Battling machine.

"Where's Rock Man?"

"Maybe in your imagination?" Netto shrugged.

"Wha~t?" He growled.

"Or maybe in Acapulco. For all I care…" Saito shrugged.

"He ran off or what?"

"No. This is called a red herring, Mr. Anderson."

"T-these BRATS!"

"_Clichéd_." Everyone (save Dekao and Guts Man) muttered.

"Call for him! Or I'll wreck this place!"

"Fine."

Saito headed to the bathroom while drawing the PET and shutting the door: there was the sound of a call being made and some hushed conversation before some beeps rang out: Rock Man then entered the system while looking unimpressed or bored.

"Saito – kun called me over… Let's see… So you're Barbatos. Andy told me about you. You'll surely go after him next. As he'd predicted. You're predictable, Guille."

"Barbatos, damn it!"

"Barbatos Damn It? What a fancy title, Count Armor."

"Nya~h!"

"The Neko Virus Version 12-03? No wonder." Rock Man shrugged.

"What's with that face? It makes me feel annoyed!"

"More like… Violently… Overwhelmingly… Vehemently disgusted…"

"That voice tune…! Like I was nothing…! It drives me mad!"

"Then you're fitting to join the Madness Club, lead by Uncle Merton."

"Not with that stupid pointless joke again!"

"My bad."

"Die!"

"Barbatos" ran for Rock Man but he merely lifted the right eyebrow and made an exaggerated sigh.

"I don't think so. Dream Sword."

"What? Where did that…?"

"Cache memory. I always have one or two PAs ready in case some smart-lass wannabe tries to cut off our communications channel. I've learnt a lot in these 4 years since my last battle with Blues. Here!"

"Ugruck! Damn it! I forgot to switch on the deflect mode of the blade!"

The Dream Sword hit "Barbatos" and he crashed against a wall: he growled but then gasped as a sound like a heartbeat echoed all around the room: Rock Man suddenly frowned and gasped as he felt something and clutched his chest.

"… This sensation…! I hadn't felt it for many years… I forgot I had this dormant portion inside of me, too…!" He muttered.

"Activate the emergency program!" Netto commanded.

"Yeah, I know… Emergency program! Cut off all connections of this program to the rest of my body and quarantine it!"

A blue "aura" formed around Rock Man for some seconds before it vanished and he sighed in relief: he then spotted "Barbatos" struggling to subdue his own "program" inside of him.

"Stay quiet, damn it! Another calculation mistake…!"

"2 per 2 equals to 4, not 8." Rock Man taunted.

"T-this DAMNED BRAT!"

"Glyde. Did Yaito – chan install a miniature typhoon? There's a lot of wind inside of this place."He asked Glyde with total sarcasm.

"W-well…" Glyde gulped.

"Guess that, cutie~…" Yaito joked.

"How funny." He drily replied.

"Huff, huff… I managed to sooth it somehow…!"

"Using LSD?"

"What the heck is LSD?"

"There's something named Wikipedia, Count of Sword."

"Enough nicknames! I'm Barbatos! End of the tale!"

"Start of the end."

"Wha~t?"

"Giga Cannon."

"Not another…! Deflect Sword! Go!"

"Useless. Fire!"

Rock Man aimed for the ceiling and the blast began to bounce around: "Barbatos" panicked and began to swing the sword at mad until it hit him from behind and had him roll across the ground and hit a wall.

"Damn it."

"I've improved somewhat." Rock Man shrugged.

"And playing the "that was nothing"…!" He growled.

"I guess that."

"I'll cut off your NECK!" He growled.

"Like in the animated version of _The Blue Lotus_… With that mad guy who said he'd cut off Tintin's neck…" He shrugged again.

"Hra~h!"

"Barbatos" ran towards Rock Man but he simply stretched his right hand and formed a spheroid of white energy which then expanded into a dome as tall and wide as him: "Barbatos" hit it with the sword but the sword got turned into stone and deleted: he gasped.

"W-what's that?"

"A new ability… Dark Power Antibodies… You've found some remains of "Dark Power" which "Nebula" used to try to power up your sword. My antibodies have deleted it. And given the result I guess it made up over 80% of its body." He calmly explained.

"What in the…"

"Of course: no database investigation would've told you. It's a technique I've been saving up and only used in Science Labs experiments. I'm a Net Navi of "Light" Attribute, anyway." He drily added.

"W-what's with that face…? You're laughing at me?"

"No. I'm simply stating I'm not the crybaby I was years ago. I've grown and matured and looked back at all I went through. All which has happened insofar is a bit interesting but I don't mind."

"You wanna play the COOL GUY, huh?"

"Sure. Like Edogawa Conan… _Cool guy_, as Vermouth names him. Are you gonna give it up or do you need me to pound your hide?"

"Who is gonna give it up?"

"Dunno. Maybe you'll despair in front of G-Chis' BGM?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"As I said: there's something named Wikipedia."

"Die!"

"Be gone."

Rock Man formed the shield of energy but this time he closed his left fist while aiming upwards: the shield glowed and created a cubical prism around Rock Man which warped and encompassed "Barbatos": his armor began to glow and he howled.

"The "Dark Power" infused into the armor will slowly decay from now on until it won't be able to hold it together and one day it'll reveal your true form… You've been pretty obvious… If you'd merely stayed off-screen like at the start… We wouldn't have deduced your true colors as easily as we've already done…" Rock Man calmly exposed.

"What would you know…?"

"I don't know. I'm only speaking in strategic terms."

"Power is EVERYTHING!"

"I'd rather object. Strategy is what counts. Look at Shunoros: they've won… They've lost… And ended up in draws. They're strong. I admit that. Yet they're not perfect. No – one's perfect. Not even Serenade was."

"Serenade, Serenade…! The guy is no more! He was beaten!"

"But his will still lives on. And that's what motivated Golden Star. If you've forgotten, Slur – sama was very friendly with Serenade."

"Gru~h! Damn small tricks! I'll crush each and every one of them!"

"I rather think you need a new armor." Rock Man crossed his arms.

"Che! I'm off!"

"About time."

"Barbatos" fled and Dekao's jaw had hit the floor by now.

"So? Cha still think cha can overcome that?"

"W-well."

"Maybe. I wouldn't use it on a normal Net Battle. The circumstances called for it." Rock Man shrugged.

"Ah! So I still have a chance! Good, good! Oi, Netto…! Huh? When he did go to sleep?"

Dekao looked over at the sofa: Netto was leaning his back against it and apparently sleeping.

"Huh…? Ah… Sorry. I was in "Full Synchro", you know… Otherwise Rock Man's "light power" won't be activated…" He yawned and began to stretch.

"Heh! But I saved ya back when the Pharaoh Man pyramid thing!"

"Did I ever deny that?"

"Well…"

"He didn't." Saito came out of the restroom.

"Huff."

"Tee, heh, heh! Fat Fatty doesn't change, no sir!"

"OI! Yaito – chan! Stop with those nicknames!" Dekao protested.

"Did ya say something, Mr. Someone In Particular?"

"Jeez. I thought your dad had spoken with you, Yaito – chan."

"Oh! But he hasn't come back from his Washington business trip." She giggled next.

"Lovely timing, truly." Meiru sighed.

"Isn't it?" Hikawa sighed as well.

"OK! Next step: beating Meiru – chan!"

"I'd rather stop right there. If I could win against Gray Thunderbolt then I can pawn you with my closed eyes, even, I'd say." She warned.

"Wha~t? Heck!" He grumbled.

"_Bad fortune, bad guy_..." Yaito made up a silly English joke.

"What in the heck?"

"Heh, heh, heh. Yo. _Danna_ – sama~… I'm the ghost of the machine~!"

"UA~H! HUH! Where did this guy…? Aren't ya…?"

"… Siegfried. Yaito – chan… You plotted for this to happen?"

"The scare, yeah, but I couldn't know that armored guy would come~…"

Sieg had suddenly showed up behind Dekao and scared him: Netto grumbled and Yaito shrugged it off.

"So! _Danna_ – sama~… Is ani-ue-sama hooked with some hot guy~?"

"I don't need to know." Saito coolly replied.

"Oho. Scary, scary~… As expected of Rock Man, yeah…"

"Don't go around boasting that. Go to Berlin and get a VIP seat to witness Wagner's operas." Saito fumed.

"Sure, sure~… Anyway… Ayanokouji – sama here said she wanted to talk 'bout somethin' with me so I came over…"

"… Yaito – chan." Meiru looked like she suspected something.

"Yeah? What's up? Did ya run out of donuts?"

"I've never eaten donuts. And don't try to elude the topic."

"What topic?"

"You know it." Meiru suddenly looked angered and menacing.

"Yikes." The guys (Sieg included) gulped.

"Oh yeah! I know. I owe ya a golden pendant."

"That's not it. I know why you called Sieg here… And what you've been plotting as of late… Thinking it's funny to laugh at what happened to me and to Tooru – kun…!"

She leant forward and loomed over Yaito: she seemed to lose some of her confidence and back off but Meiru cornered her: she was showing her teeth and looked about to explode into anger.

"Give it up. Now. Or else…!" She hissed.

"W-well… When cha say it like that, I guess that…"

"What was that?"

"Y-yeah! I'll give the stuff back, yeah…! G-guess… I shouldn't have paid attention to the guy of the other day, yeah…"

"… What does this mean, Siegfried?"

"Yikes! P-Prince…? When did my PET…?"

"I've got software to keep tabs on you guys in case you ran into trouble and it activated because it detected a lot of stress in a nearby voice. What's going on?"

Sieg's PET had turned on and Kuroban's voice rang out: he gasped.

"W-well… That's… Hum… Sa-Sakurai and Ayanokouji are having a discussion and… W-well… The Miss got inspired by Eisei and… Well… Wanted to try out… hum… Well…" He managed to reply.

"… Gray. The damned fool! I told him…! This time around…! He'll see what my anger means…! And you shouldn't bring up wounds which had been closed up, either…! Come back immediately… I'll talk with you!"

Sieg gulped and ran off while Yaito also did so: Meiru fumed and the guys looked surprised and scared.

"Yaito – chan…! I'll remember this affront…! Until you apologize…!"

"Yaito…! You had to mess it up…!" Netto grumbled.

19:10 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah! Hah, hah, hah!"

"I-impossible… The Dream Virus' power core…!"

"Now…! With this power…! I'll become INVINCIBLE~! Not even that damned woman will stop me…!"

"R-run for it!"

"Who the heck is that guy~?"

"Run, you herd of idiots! Your role expired! I'll now cut that thing to pieces and absorb the abilities of all these Viruses… Then I'll be able to form Viruses whenever I feel like it… An army of Viruses…! Yeah… I'd rather keep the lab intact… I'll use it… And with that army…! I'll annihilate those damned humans! My revenge will be fulfilled!"

"Barbatos" was standing in the deepest room of the Virus Lab and had just picked the complete power core of the Dream Virus which was being created there: he laughed as a pair of Security Navis ran off and the core began to glow.

"Yeah… Soon enough… This silly disguise will be needless… I'll unleash "it" and I'll ravage everything which stands in my way…! Golden Star, Shunoros, the Net Police dogs… All will be blown up!"

"I wonder about that."

"Who the hell…? Huh? You? Hadn't you been deleted?"

"True. But Prince Kuroban granted me a chance… I've been acting the fool but that's enough of it… I'll show it to you… My new power!"

"Fine! You'll be the first to taste my new power, too!"

Laser Man happened to step in and "Barbatos" held the sphere up as its energy began to flow into the armor: some parts of it had began to lose thickness by now given Rock Man's previous attacks but they were restored and a small reddish core formed on the center of the armor: "Barbatos" roared and the room began to shake.

"Hum. So?" Laser Man was unimpressed.

"Destruction Beam!"

"How foolish…"

The reddish beam hit Laser Man but a statue of a _samurai_ was left behind instead and he reappeared higher in the air to shoot 10 _shuriken_ at "Barbatos" which got stuck on his armor and one hit the core: it got stuck there and energy began to leak out so "Barbatos" stepped back.

"Bodyguard Program Advance… 2000 HP of damage…"

"D-damn it… I reset my HP to be at 4000 HP, luckily enough…!"

"Shooting Star Shower, Attack Plus 30, Uninstall! Program Advance! Sun and Moon!"

"W-what?"

The red and orange device formed in the air and began to shoot down some meteors at "Barbatos" who struggled to dodge them or kick them away yet 2 of them made contact: the object changed to blue and white coloring and shot a thick bluish laser at him which hit the core: he hit the wall: the object changed to reddish color again and hit the ground causing an explosion.

"1500 of power."

"D-damn it… I've lost so much of my HP and I haven't even begun to scratch this jerk…!"

"You hadn't really tried to exploit the power of that core, anyway."

"Bug Sword! Hra~h!"

"Shirahadori."

"Damn it. Another 250…!"

"Cross Laser! Full Power!"

Laser Man warped to in front of him and shot at the core at full power.

"Ugrah!"

The core suddenly turned purple in coloring and detached from the armor to warp inside of the stasis tube where the Dream Virus was at: it hovered into its place and new armor formed over the chest from the front and the rear as the Dream Virus opened its eyes and roared: it then shot out the right claw and picked "Barbatos" who had been looking at it while Laser Man had stepped towards the left.

"Uack! Let go of me, you! What the hell happened?"

"Hum. I take it that it's some security system designed that, if someone tried to exploit the core, it would uninstall itself and install itself into the Dream Virus. They weren't taking risks." Laser Man shrugged.

"Shit. I'm off this mad place!"

"Barbatos" warped out of the place and Laser Man also did so with a shrug: alarms began to ring out as the Dream Virus broke free and tugged away the wires connected to various points of its body: it roared and then ran forward towards the doors: an energy field formed in front of them and the Dream Virus got repelled yet the field frizzled.

"Warning! Energy field is not properly calibrated. Re-calibrate." An auto-voice rang out.

The Dream Virus reached out with both claws and pulled the field away: it collapsed and exploded, damaging the doors: the Dream Virus roared and some attacks began to come in through the other side of the doors: several of the Viruses in cold sleep had broken free and were seemingly helping the Dream Virus escape.

"Warning. Cold-sleep-status Viruses have escaped: the command program of the Dream Virus has been activated. It is recommended to evacuate the premises."

"Not like we can let this guy run berserk, ma'am…"

"True, Legato. Let us destroy it along with this facility."

"Yeah. They're toying with fire. What if it goes out of control?"

"Then they'll be dooming their own systems, too."

Legato and Slur showed up there: Legato had drawn a Neo Variable Sword and Slur two thin yellowish energy swords: Legato didn't seem too surprised and Slur looked dull.

"Legato. Our investigations showed this lab had a self-destruct system installed on it. Trigger it. I shall buy time."

"Roger, ma'am."

Legato warped elsewhere and Slur began to cut the Viruses while dodging the attacks from the Dream Virus: shooting out the claws, swinging them, forming a laser from the waist and shooting it ahead or in an angle, making meteors rain down or summon further Viruses.

"That is all you can do?" She taunted with a grin.

She lifted her right hand into the air and began to draw a red thin circle which spread and encompassed the whole area the Dream Virus occupied: the circle grew in thickness and energy began to form inside of it to then shoot towards the ground and encompass the Dream Virus inside of an unleashing of energy which concentrated around the waist and the chest: the Dream Virus roared and lost balance but it managed to get back into its feet and roar.

"Warning. Self-destruct system engaged. All Viruses will be deleted and the Dream Virus' power core shall be imploded. The facility will collapse and all data eliminated. Repeat…"

"It's done, ma'am. We've got 60 seconds."

"More than enough."

"Roger."

Slur began to fly around the Dream Virus as the other Viruses began to be deleted and red lights turned on: the alarms' shrieks got louder and Slur spotted how the Dream Virus' core was starting to pulse and shudder before it began to shrink at a steady rate: the Dream Virus howled and got stuck on that position.

"41 seconds to total collapse."

"Go back firstly, Legato. I shall check that this monster does die."

"Roger, ma'am."

The core kept on shrinking and it finally began to emit a menacing yellowish glow: Slur warped out and looked at the outside of the building as an explosion happened around its middle section and part of the ceiling collapsed followed by a howl of agony: more sections began to collapse along with the walls before it all collapsed into the ground leaving but a large heap of smoking ruin behind.

"Choina's foolishness has come to an end. Let this be a lesson for them: when you play with fire, you get burnt." She muttered.

"Truly, ma'am." President Hades confirmed.

"Anyway. I am coming back."

Slur warped out while Laser Man looked on from some distance: he seemed to be looking elsewhere as if he was concentrated on something else instead.

"Prince… Could that armored Navi be…?"

"Not "could"… It's definitive… There's no room for mistakes anymore."

"Hum. They haven't changed much. They still are wild and they lack patience or capability to stop and think things over."

"Yeah, I know… I'll soon have a rematch with Slur… There's a hypothesis of mine I wanna discuss with her… And try to prove it… I could be using a lot of baseless material as speculation, but… Well. Whatever."

"Understood. I shall pull back, Prince."

"Good. And remember to behave like the adult you are, too. Barbatos: I know who you are and the others have caught up… Soon… This stage will come to a close… And there will be an interlude before the next…"

_Heh, heh, heh… Soon… Your true colors will be exposed! Be prepared…!_


	25. Chapter 25: Armored revelation

**Chapter 25: Armored revelation**

11:11 AM (Japan Time), Sunday March the 27th…

"… Well, well, well. It's been six days since the Virus Lab incident and yet Barbatos hasn't appeared yet. He must be bidding for a chance or trying to rebuild the sword Rock Man broke."

"Guess that, Andy."

"You lowlife are Andy, huh? I'll defeat you!"

"Speaking of the devil…"

"…The devil came out of Hell."

"Wha~t?"

"Are you going to fight or not? I've got other business to take care of, anyway."

"Damn this guy!"

Andy had been patrolling the area close to the former Virus Lab's ruins and talking with Kage when the aforementioned guy showed up by dropping from above and holding out his sword: neither of them had been surprised to begin with.

"Fine. I'll toy with you before I unleash my true power."

"This sensation…! I felt it some days ago…! And I've been looking for it…!"

"No wonder. But you won't have it. This program only works with me and it's got a self-destruct system which wipes out anything in a 50 meter radius."

"50 meter radius…!" He recoiled.

"We're pretty paranoid but that's how we've come so far."

"Che. I should've expected it… Anyway…! Let's go!"

"Fine. Impact Cannon. We've copied the Battle Cards when we captured Eisei and saw his whole list in his PET, time ago."

"Uack! Damn it. I lowered the guard."

"And I raised the attack." Andy drily taunted.

"Damn it…! Fight like a man!"

"And if I don't want to?" He shrugged.

"Then you're but a damned coward!"

"I'd rather object. My true power would end this too soon. I'm giving you a last chance to improve before I expose you. I already made sure that there are no accidental witnesses around here, anyway."

"Damned meddling guy!"

"Can't you do anything else but swear, Barbatos?" Andy sighed.

"Hra~h! I'll cut you to pieces!"

"Objection. Shirahadori."

"Fuck. I forget about that!"

"No wonder. You never were the sword type."

"How do you know that?" He gasped.

"You yourself have exposed your own ID countless times by now." He sighed out of exasperation.

"Shit. The damned sleeping power thing…!"

"And your own obsession with power, too… Those two things were more than enough to prove it… Plus your own height…"

"Lightning!"

"Lightning Rod. This is dull and boring. You can do better."

Andy merely closed his eyes and crossed his arms while the Lightning Rod formed on the field: it absorbed the incoming attack which "Barbatos" formed by aiming the sword upwards.

"Che! Enough! I'll rip you apart with my hands!"

"Your blood-stained hands, I take it."

"Barbatos" dropped the sword and formed energy on the hands which assumed the form of spinning discs: he jumped towards Andy but fell short and met the floor face-down: Andy was merely looking elsewhere and humming a tune.

"Shit. I forgot that the armor's weight limits my jump distance!"

"Maybe you've got a memory files glitch? Navi Memory Glitch?"

"Shut the trap up, you damned super-hero wannabe!"

"Oh no. I'm not a super-hero. I'm but a member of Golden Star. That's all there's to it, right, Miquel – kun?"

"Sure." Kage shrugged.

"By the way. The only one who's ever been able to wound Slur – sama in battle was Kuroban but he fell short of power." Andy let out.

"Damn it."

"And without needing the triple Boundary combo, either…"

"Heck. That guy's more dangerous than I'd thought!"

"So? Had enough? Or do you wanna get your armor busted?"

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"

"Plasma Gun X."

"Ugra~h! I hate Elec attacks!"

"Be glad I'm not Gray Thunderbolt." Andy merely countered.

"The damned rascal!" He howled.

"Howl, have you come to?" Andy taunted with a parody.

"Shut… up…! Ugh! You stay quiet, too…! Damned sleeping power!" The guy banged his chest with the right fist.

"See? You're screaming it out loud: "I'm that guy!"…"

"I'm not! Stop playing detective master, damn it all!"

"We know how you came out of "there", too… Did you really think no-one would've noticed your escape from "there", anyway? You really underestimated Slur – sama." Andy dully added.

"Eat these!"

He shot the discs at Andy but he merely sighed and let them hit him to then be replaced by a doll of the PKMN "Hariteyama": he formed higher in the air and flung the 10 _shuriken_ at guy to have him collapse and suffer major damage: Andy landed back into the ground and negated with the head as if being displeased.

"Please… You fell for this trick again? You never think of the consequences of your moves or what the adversary could use to counter? Battles are no longer just charging in, having some luck surviving and delivering some blows, Barbatos… They've become duels to match one's strategic will against another's one… And the one with the best strategy and who can strike at the right moment wins…" He explained to him in a lecturing tone like he was a teacher.

"Now the jerk believes he's a walking encyclopedia, too!"

"Sure. The PKMN Picture Book or Encyclopedia… PKMN Zukan."

"Don't screw me~!"

"Program Advance. Fire Punch, Triple Slot In! Flame Hook!"

Kage inserted the Battle Chips and Andy formed a mass of flames around his right forearm before warping and delivering a hook to the jaw of Barbatos and knocking him into the ground.

"Hell's Burner, Slot In!"

"Hell's Burner!"

He began to shoot a continuous stream of flames at the armor's chest and Barbatos howled as he began to move around in a frenzy or mad manner: Andy shrugged.

"Hot! This armor's boiling! It's making my body feel hot! This heat! I need to vent it off somehow!"

"Wide Shot, Triple Slot In! Program Advance! Super Wide!"

"Here. Cool off."

Andy shot the Program Advance at Barbatos and the water evaporated in contact forming a cloud of steam around the guy: he apparently tripped and met the floor while cursing.

"Shit. I'm being made a fool of…!"

"Well. I guess it's time to end the farce." Andy shrugged.

"Roger. Ryuusei Form: activate." Kage calmly announced.

All lighting dimmed as the steam dissipated and Barbatos got to his feet: the "cocoon" formed around Andy as energy began to be sucked from around the area and the heartbeats rang out: Barbatos gasped and recoiled while bringing both hands to the sides of his head as if trying to block the sounds.

"T-these heartbeats…! T-this pressure…! The power inside of me…! It's stirring…! It's struggling to take over…! It wants to face this power…!"

"… You dared to anger Slur – sama… As per Slur – sama's will… All sinners shall be punished…" Andy's icy voice rang out.

"What the… Almost like it was a split personality thing…!"

"… Are you ready to be defeated?"

"H-huh! T-this tone of voice…! It makes me want to run…!"

"… Too late."

The "cocoon" exploded and the energy released knocked Barbatos into the ground: he groaned and then managed to sit just to gasp in terror upon seeing Andy with his Ryuusei Form looming over him and having a cold and indifferent glare to his eyes.

"T-the heck…! Like a killer…!"

"… Red Gaia Eraser."

The disks floating over his shoulders detached and then flew into the air to get into inclined angles: they began to shoot continuous steams of crimson energy which drew a path like a pendulum's swinging: Barbatos got trapped between both of those but managed to avoid being hit: he didn't see the blast which Andy suddenly shot from his hands' energy mass and which hit him fully: a gigantic dome-shaped explosion ensued and spread across a large patch of terrain.

"Gurukikya~h!" A growl and howl got mixed in.

The explosion finally ended and smoke lingered around the area: several metallic sounds rang out followed by panting and a silhouette could be started to be spotted within the smoke: it seemed to have grown wings and claws plus talons: the head seemed to have gotten two differently-shaped crests too.

"Gruh… Kyah…! Grah…! Damn it…! I can't cancel it…! But at the very least I'm still in control…! Damned you… FALZER!"

"Hmpf. Well. The farce's over… Forte." Kage muttered.

The smoke cleared to show that "Barbatos" had been Forte all along and that he was now using his "Falzer Bestialize" form while clutching his chest where the crest of Falzer had overlapped his emblem and a network of vein-like thin lines colored in a vermillion color had formed all over the surface of Forte's body including his face's skin: he looked pretty if not totally pissed off.

"FINE! I was fed up with the damned farce!"

"Ah. But it was you who started it, was it not?" Kage pointed out.

"… The sinner has shed the skin… And now shall be brought down…"

"What the hell! That guy acts like an automaton!"

"Yeah. He wanted to have a different personality which would be far more intimidating. Not my problem. Have a complain, then go and tell it to Slur – sama." Kage shrugged.

"Silence! I'll defeat you lowlifes! Hrah!"

He beat the wings and shot forward but Andy merely formed two reddish blades and aimed them at the ground: he suddenly brought them up and thrust them forward so fast that the move looked blurry: both swords pierced Forte's wings and his claws got bounced off by a dome-shaped shield colored green: he managed to drop down into his feet and began a barrage of fisting at the shield but it didn't yield.

"No attack under 500 HP will break that." Kage let out.

"What in the… A shield stronger than my Dream Aura…?"

"It's not "your" Dream Aura anymore. It's become a popular defense-class Battle Chip, anyway." Kage shrugged.

"… Sinner. Disappear." Andy icily told him.

"F-fuck…! The vibes…! This guy looks like he could kill me and never regret it…! What the hell are you guys?"

"I told you: he wanted to have a split personality file which would execute along with the Ryuusei Form and be more intimidating. Even Gray Thunderbolt got the hell frightened outta him in the summer."

"Black End Galaxy."

Andy formed the spheroid of black energy to then throw it behind Forte and open up the black hole: Forte began to be pulled despite his attempts to stab the ground with his talons and remain there: Andy flew past him while swinging both swords and cutting off the wings before he hit the black hole as he flew past it too: it collapsed and the ensuing shockwave spread around the area, hitting Forte and making him tumble and roll across it until he hit a rock.

"Uack! Fuck! What in the… 1000 HP! Those two things wiped off 1000 HP from me…! I've lost three quarters of my HP already…! Shit. Darkness Overload! DIE~!"

"… The one to die… is your foolishness… sinner. Atomic Blazer. Let the fires of Hell incinerate your foolish ambition and desire…"

Andy simply turned around, formed a spheroid of flames and shot a gigantic blast of flames which nullified the Darkness Overload and hit Forte fully because he hadn't been able to move: he roared and shot skywards to then draw his Dark Arm Blades and dive for Andy.

"Ah! That was worth 400 HP." Kage noted.

"DIE~!"

"… Fool. Elemental Cyclone."

A greenish cyclone formed in the air and some of the material drawn into it hit Forte 3 times and stunned him so he fell and plummeted face-down into the ground.

"300 HP."

"I-impossible…!"

"Thunderbolt Blade."

Andy drew a blade shaped like a thunderbolt and swung it horizontally left and right and right and left before he hit the ground with it and a bolt of thunder fell down from the sky to hit Forte.

"300. Total damage from these 3 move: 1000 HP. You have Under Shirt so you're left with 1 HP." Kage calmly calculated.

"W-what power…! If I had it…! If I had it…!"

"Didn't you hear the earlier talk? Any attempts to mess with the Ryuusei Program will bring upon its self-destruction which can inflict up to 500 HP of damage to any Navi caught on its wake." Kage reminded him.

"Shit…! Such power…! And I can't have it…!"

"No. You can't. Slur – sama foresaw you trying to take it even before it was complete or field testing began. As I said: you gotta be paranoid from time to time but, in the end, it pays off."

"Damn it… Huff, huff…! No…! You lowlifes won't get to seal me into that weird dimension thing again! I'm off! And I'll be BACK!"

Forte dropped down from the edge and vanished so Andy cancelled the Ryuusei Form and calmly sighed as he stretched but he was obviously keeping an eye around.

"The 3D radar says there's nothing in 75 meters' radius: be it up, down or in any direction." Kage relayed.

"Fine. I thought he could come back to try to sneak on me once I'd taken off this form but it wasn't the case. Forte will be Forte, like how Rock Man told us, anyway. Let's go report to Slur – sama. Besides. Even if he's got a self-recovery program, which I don't doubt he has… The fright he got is not something he's gonna forget soon and he'll be busier trying to stop the Falzer piece from taking over his mind. Huh?"

Andy spotted the armor pieces which had been loosened and come apart during the Red Gaia Eraser: he simply ignored those and checked the radar again before switching it to IR mode: there was nothing so he tried sound echoes next: the X – ray didn't yield anything.

"Good. Gray could try hiding from IR but you can't hide from echoes or the X-rays which can penetrate skin. Let's go back."

Andy warped out and a giggle rang out as Gray Thunderbolt fell from higher up.

"Too bad, Andy… I was looking on from my VIP seat 150 meters above you and using a portable telescope… So _aibou_ was right: "Barbatos" was Forte all along. He tried to use the brains a bit but his impatient mood ruined it all and made it clear for us long way ago… Heh, heh, heh."

"What did you say? Forte?"

"Huh! Colonel… I guess ya just came here, of course…"

"What did you say about Forte?"

Colonel happened to come into the spot and Gray Thunderbolt directed a grin at him while he looked like his sleeping anger had been awakened.

"Yeah. Barbatos was Forte: didn't you make the connection? It was pretty obvious, ya know. He got his ass kicked by Andy and ran away."

"Che. This time around… I'll avenge Serenade!"

"I do not think that Serenade would wish for you to carry out such a petty vengeance. My solution was nobler."

"Che. Slur!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Vermouth came to scold ya, Gin. I'm off!"

Gray Thunderbolt left while Slur appeared in the air and landed down to fold her arms and look at Colonel with a dull look.

"Nobler? He escaped from your "solution"!"

"And what if? At least he did not go into a mad rampage across the Net Police Cyber World like about 2 years ago. He did try to use intelligence and slowly regain his power but his own impatience foiled him and he was letting it out several times… By letting out I mean his true colors…"

"Huh! Che. As always… This woman's good at talking…!"

"Did I not prove it several times already that my power is above yours, Colonel? Yet! I am not obsessed over power. My own presence can scare those inferior ones and reputation can do what weapons sometimes cannot. Serenade taught me that. But you did not see the grace of it given how you are part of an army which believes to be invincible while no army is. Else… Would you spend so many years in foreign lands fighting a war of ambushes and such and trying to prepare those governments to assume their own defense…? Or would you rather bomb the hideout of the targets and be done with it and go back in a few months…?"

"I'm not here to discuss what our Army does in foreign lands: I have no competency in that aspect. I'm only in charge of the Indiana Base and of training." He was obviously eluding the topic.

"Fine. But one day… You shall regret your own arrogance."

Slur flew off while Colonel grumbled something under his breath and stormed off the zone.

"Damn it. You lowlifes are the ones who will regret these affronts!"

14:14 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… _Aibou_? You there? The snake shed the skin."

"Well. About time."

"Andy had to "convince" him too…"

"And he proved to him how foolish he was."

"Correct."

"Good. I hope you've learnt the lesson from the other day…"

"YIKES! Y-yeah… B-but… Hum… Well… It was the gal the one who began to draw out the topic… You know, they're the spoiled type… They think they can get away with anything…"

"Hum. That's true. But you incited her."

"Y-yeah, w-well, I d-did, y-yeah…"

"Whatever. That has been solved. Now, about Forte…"

"Yeah. What do we do? Let him loose?"

"Of course. He'll take AGES to reach a sufficient power level. He's lost all matches insofar. He'll never be back to the level of destructive power he was 5 years ago when he was resurrected into his "GS" version."

Eisei walked into the dome room of the Kyutora base and found Kuroban sitting in one of the armchairs while looking out at the ceiling: he sat to his right and then Kuroban brought up the topic of the other day while glaring at him: Eisei gulped and then Kuroban switched topics.

"Ah! Good point, yeah. But let's not forget he got Dark Man's materialization program, either. He's still got a threat."

"Hum. True. Yet… Maybe… I wouldn't be surprised if Golden Star designed a system to eliminate that data from his body… And if they do that then the data of the "Dimensional Converters" he got from us wouldn't help him because there's nothing on "Dimensional Areas" and this time around he won't be able to snatch it from someone else."

"Of course not. That data must be stored by Golden Star or by the Science Labs… We've got some but it's not like he can come and board the "Ark" to get it… Speaking of which: did the central wing change in design during the trip?"

"Yeah. Given how power had to be re-routed… The maintenance Navis redid it so that the heavy-duty elevator didn't take up power and instead they placed those stairs… I sometimes fly there to have a better look of the planet from orbit and of this dimension… Maybe Slur's "creators" experimented with Time-Space and did this…"

"Speaking of which… You said you had a theory about that stuff we found in the old "Nebula" base back in the summer… The remains of that wrecked "portal" machine… And those weird machines which could carry out DNA modification but which we used for "that" purpose…" Eisei brought up.

"Oh. True, true. But I'd rather confront that with Slur. It's a lot of speculation based on little to no proof but I'd like to see her reaction: yet I rather think she'll say it'd make up for a nice conspiracy theory." He looked rather amused.

"It wouldn't surprise me."

"… Search for the guy speaking with the "l"! And they end up mistaking the guys because they have a stutter or names which have a lot of "L" characters on them… Well! First time it was because some guy was talking with another named Laele, Monsieur Pate-de-foie La-ele… Because "Laele" can be read as "la ele", "the l"…" Netsuhonoo was laughing close by.

"Yeah… And the second time was because it was a guy named Lulio Lalarili Lalila from Larín and "luchador de lucha libre" or "free-fighting fighter", and they had to run from the guy before he could smash them: and while the Ofelia guy casually found the real culprit they had to run for it… Talk about an ironic ending to the "No-vel Award"!" Kazebun laughed.

"Ah. Yeah. The "No-vel of War"… Placing bombs in the USSR and Ameroupe embassies and make it look like both bombed each other…"

"I know… _Aibou_… And have two villages named "Valdeculete de arriba" and "Valdeculete de abajo" fight each other two…"

"He could've used names which weren't so ugly." Kuroban sighed.

"Guess that!"

"But the guy had some insight! He disguised as a newbie agent and began to cause sabotage around the staff while always blaming one of the main characters and starting "war" amongst the "TIA" staff! The only thing which gave him away is that, at one point, he accidentally began to speak using the "l" character instead of the "r" and Mr. Super managed to link the dots together." Netsuhonoo kept on telling Kazebun.

"Yeah. "The newbie…! They've mentioned the newbie AGAIN…! That guy shows up more times than the Finances Minister in the TV News. I'll ring the staff chief to get first-hand info and… IA~GH! Devil! A thousand devils! Someone plugged the phone into the tri-phase current!"… "Ah, yes! I saw how Filemón's assistant was manipulating the phone line, yes! Heh, heh!"… "Filemón's assistant…? Mortadelo! Gonna kill the guy! It was Mortadelo!"… "That's it, Mortadelo! Heh, heh! He stluck as so lidiculous with his electlisct clothing…" … "HUH? Devil! How weird! The newbie speaks with the "l"! Why's that? Who's that fella? Let's deduce: if the guys talking with the "ce" are "ceceantes" then the guys speaking with the "ele" gotta be… Elephants! Of course! That short newbie guy: he's really an elephant! No, wait! What am I saying…! Doesn't have horns or tube… Not like I missed those! A~h! I've got it! Then there's only one answer! He's a Choina guy! It's Ten-Go-Pis, disguised! He's sneaked inside to stir up ruckuses and have us fight each other! Mortadelo! Filemó~n!"…" Kazebun seemingly played back a broadcast given how Video Man's and Needle Man's voices could be heard.

"… "Warning! Quick! Search all across the office for the guy speaking with the "l" and beat them down! Crush them down! Smash them up! It's Ten-Go-Pis, disguised!"… "Leave it up to us, Mr. Super! The unstoppable gears of Justice have been activated! Gotcha, you damned Choina guy!"… "Done! How fast! No, these lads are truly efficient…!"… And it turns out it wasn't the guy and they were pulling out his nose and ears!"

"Huff. What madness."

"Welcome to the madness club, sponsored by Uncle Merton!"

"I'm off to my room. I'm gonna get annoyed if I hear any further."

"OK!"

"Netsuhonoo and Kazebun! Next time make sure I'm not around before playing those. They start as amusing but they can make me end up annoyed if I hear it for too long!"

"Yikes! R-roger, Prince!"

"W-we'll be careful, sir!"

"Fine. I'm off to the "Ark"."

Both guys walked in and Eisei signaled for them to sit down behind him: he turned towards the rear and pocketed the sunglasses to be able to look at them.

"We heard the news. So Mr. Guille was THE Forte… Fallen into disgrace, not unlike how Skywalker became Vader but lost a great deal of his strength because he'd lost living flesh and the "Force" depends on the midi-chlorian count on his body…" Kazebun laughed.

"Sure thing." Eisei grinned.

"So? Is he much of an improvement even with the Falzer thing?"

"Not really. He's struggling with it to remain sane. Like how Darth Krayt struggled with the Vong implants and the Sith Lords of the Holocrons taunted him with a vision of his implants going berserk and consuming him… Something along those lines… He'll lack strategy, charge it without fully knowing his speed or strength, and he lacks coordination."

"In short: he's ready to have his hide POUNDED." Kazebun grinned.

"Just don't get too confident. His attacks still pack some power and if he chains in them together in a rush he can beat you."

"Huh! Alright, alright." Netsuhonoo gulped.

"And tell the others when they drop by."

"OK."

"Yo! _Danna_ – sama~… The junior's come." Sieg laughed as he strode in while stuffing the hands on his jacket.

"Why don't we go smash some vases?" Eisei joked.

"Smash vases? Why?" Netsuhonoo frowned.

"It's some popular joke or what?" Kazebun asked next.

"Guess that…" Even Sieg seemed to not know the point.

"Heh, heh, heh. Yeah. Ya could say that. One, two, three… Hop!"

A bolt of lightning fell down from the dome and they all (save Eisei) jumped away but it was a hologram.

"Gotcha."

"Yikes! That wasn't half-funny!" Netsuhonoo growled.

"I felt like a comet being hit by lightning!" Kazebun cursed.

"Yikes!" Sieg gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh. Guess that. _See you around, cool guys_."

He chuckled under his breath and walked off while the other three guys sighed and looked fed up with the joke.

"Eisei…! Someone has to remind him there's a limit to jokes!" Netsuhonoo growled.

"Yeah… I know." Sieg sighed.

"The guy…! He's gonna regret it! My word!" Kazebun pointed his right index finger at the doorway while being annoyed.

"No wonder."

Netsuhonoo sighed, Kazebun growled and Sieg rolled his eyes under the sunglasses: Eisei was too much of a prankster…


	26. Chapter 26: Speculation

**Chapter 26: Speculation**

17:27 PM (Philippines Time), Tuesday March the 29th…

"… So. You called me here."

"Yeah. It's time to settle our score."

"Fine."

"And to talk about speculation…"

"Oh?"

"Aha-hah! That "oh?" set off my instinct!"

"So it would seem."

Slur floated down and landed inside of the central hatch of Shunoros' Philippines base and Kuroban was waiting there, atop the stairs, while the robot was flying in circles around the shaft and laughing with a somewhat manly yet held back voice as if the speaker used some kind of ventriloquism or they didn't open the mouth to speak.

"I've deduced something from seeing the stuff in the old "Nebula" base and given my own experiences… This "story", this "arc"… Some of you guys, Gray and me… We're "outsiders", come from another "story", or, rather, another "Time-Space" or "world"…"

"What made you think that?"

"The remains of the portal machine… That was one thing. The backstory tale fit very well and such, yet… I searched for any hints that that "Twilight" character had lived in the "Nebula" base with Regal. We found that photo. But that could've been set up later as a red herring for anyone who tried to look into it and it'd actually reinforce the tale."

"And what else made you think that?"

"Heh. The machines… They can tamper with the brain… I guess you chose to erase some of your memories because you intended to remain here and would prefer to believe you'd always lived here."

"Yet! Most of what you say is speculation."

"I know. But it makes sense, anyway. Some of the Navis… Burner Man, Video Man and Needle Man… Are unique… You say Twilight designed them but maybe they already existed in your "world"… In fact: the "world" Gray and I come from… There was a guy named _daimaou_ Twilight and he had an army of "Darkloids"… And those three were amongst them. I guess Pharaoh Man is from there, too. And, that, originally… Those guys, Legato, _Noir_, Hades and you… You guys are the outsiders. You began it all: I guess you didn't really have a plan when you came here and decided to lay low and figure out the happenings here… Serenade's figure inspired you guys and you decided to use his name…" He grinned as he drew the Dexia Sword and the Aristeros Shield.

"Oh my. That is some pretty conspiracy speculation." She calmly drew her swords.

They jumped to each other and began to clash: Slur crossed her swords to block an horizontal swing of the Dexia Sword and jumped back when Kuroban tried to ram into her with the Aristeros Shield: Kuroban calmly spun around and threw the Dexia Sword towards her right leg but she simply shot forward, above and past Kuroban so he flung the Aristeros Shield like it was a boomerang and it did hit her right side but she didn't seem to mind the blow: she then frowned and looked there to see four or five small metallic triangles glowing with a menacing purple glow: she grinned and they suddenly burnt up.

"Poison? My antibodies are very advanced. A small thing like this has no effect on me. But I know you knew that."

"Yeah. I was just having a deployment test." Kuroban admitted as the Aristeros Shield flew back to him.

"So? What else?"

"Ah! True, true. Well. I heard Twilight had been bested by someone else I actually met… His number one rival… Yet… It seemed too easy."

"… Hmpf… So?"

"Maybe he actually skipped to another "Time-Space" and there was where Kanou Shade and you jumped into the picture… Along with _Noir_ AKA Umbra… I'd heard he'd died but if he was originally a Net Navi then he could've been rebuilt… And then plotted to escape Twilight… Hence why you took him in and exiled yourselves…"

"Oh. You could be a rather good detective." She joked.

"Heh! Guess I'll beat Edogawa Conan to it." He joked back.

Kuroban then used some jets forming his boots' soils to fly around the shaft and aim the Dexia Sword at Slur: it began to glow and she looked intrigued.

"Under the shining name of the Lord, may the Light of Judgment fall as rain upon those impure souls who crawl in the World. Rest in peace, you who are burdened by your sins! Judgment!"

Some streaks of energy fell down around the area and one or two landed on Slur but she simply formed a smug smile and flew straight for Kuroban: the guy gasped and brought up the Aristeros Shield as she stopped in front of him and then shot past him while shooting some strings which coiled around his right arm: she pulled those and had him flip across the air before delivering a kick to his chest: he groaned and cut the strings with the Aristeros Shield's saw-like edge: Slur then cancelled the swords and formed some masses of white energy on her palms which she began to flung at Kuroban: he tried to bounce them off but they began to attach to his shield and built up before they imploded and the shockwave pushed him across the room but he managed to cancel the inertia by stopping the hovering and dropping down to land atop the stairs: he looked up and down to look for Slur and it turned out she was at the start of the stairs like a few minutes ago.

"I am surprised that you did not bring out the Boundary." She commented with some amusement.

"Nah. The Boundary… I save it up for special occasions… I'd rather face you with my weapons and not rely on that thing… A warrior fights by sword and shield."

"Ah. I see. That is true."

"By the way… What are you gonna do about Forte?"

"Even if I closed him in the "cage" again… He would surely escape… So I shall let him loose. We retrieved the materialization factor data and this time around it'll be password-encoded. 3 failed attempts at inputting the password in the space of 5 minutes or less will result on its self-deletion: and even if he managed to steal it from us…"

"You've got something ready."

"Correct. We have incorporated a tracer which will be activated when the factors are used. Using that… We can revoke the password by the root user authority… And force him to de-materialize…"

"Good. You've already thought of something."

"Hmpf. Fool me once, you are to shame. Fool me twice, I am to shame."

"Obviously… I expect you to fail, Mr. Forte!"

"Hmpf. That is true." She shrugged.

"Let's continue…"

"Gladly…"

They jumped into the air again and Slur drew the red circle into the air from which the energy fell down: but Kuroban warped outside of it and the attack hit nothing at all: Slur looked amused at Kuroban's maneuver and she floated up while forming her swords: she blocked a downward swing by forming the "X" shape with the swords and getting the Dexia Sword's blade stuck in the top of the shape: Kuroban placed the Aristeros Shield in front of him and it glowed: a duplicate shield with a saw-like edge formed and began to spin as it hurled towards Slur: she merely flipped downwards in the air as the Dexia Sword finished the swing without hitting her and she used the right foot to kick the duplicate shield from the underside, sending it flying across the air and crashing against a wall to then be deleted: Slur headed downwards and gracefully drew a parabola to shoot upwards again: Kuroban hadn't moved from his spot.

"Trying to seek the best strategy, Kuroban?"

"Yeah… And here it comes!"

Kuroban warped and swung the sword while tracing a line from the SW to the NE: Slur used her right sword to block it and then Kuroban pulled back to form an attack from the SE to the NW which Slur blocked with her left sword this time around: Kuroban then quickly swung up and down and left and right to be blocked: Slur seemed to suspect something and she glanced over her right shoulder to see if something was coming from behind but it wasn't so she focused again: Kuroban grinned as a grayish spheroid of energy hovered above him and it stopped in front of the "mouth" of the robot: it emitted a dry chuckle.

"So be it!" The recorded voice announced.

"Ah. So that is how it is." Slur got the grace of it.

"Yeah! Take it! High One's Anger!"

The gray spheroid turned into a spheroid of orange-like flames and it was shot towards Slur: she crossed the swords as it impacted into them and shattered them to then latch into her and have multiple flames spread through her body but she didn't seem to mind them: she suddenly lifted her arms and formed a cyclone around her which spread the flames around the shaft yet it could be seen that some had burnt through some layers of her skin despite the short span of time they'd been there: Slur calmly lowered her arms and looked smug despite it all.

"Not bad, yet, as I said before… Same strategy shall not work twice." She told him.

"Heh. It was worth a try, anyway."

"Well. I guess I should be honest. I decided to keep the memories just in case. We did do what you said… To protect Umbra from Twilight… The fool would rather mess with his mind and try to stain his persona to then have him deepen into spiraling paranoia and never-ending violence… In short: Twilight wanted to turn him into a sadist and have him earn others' hatred and live on tormented by that paranoia and fear."

"What a…!" He cursed.

"Yes. I know you barely tolerate that Urateido man… And I suspect you dislike sadists in general… Despite our efforts to purge his Net Navi mind… Which we did… As long as Twilight was around… His mere existence would torment Umbra… So exile was the only way out. Back then… After fighting with his rival… He seemed to detonate and even his pawns did not know what had become of him… I do not know if he has surfaced again or not during this time we have been gone… Passage of time is different from one world to the other…" She sighed.

"Shit. Then it's no wonder you did that. I did that out of wanting to broaden my horizons and escape the pressure of having tried to challenge a powerful organization… I brought Gray along to help me get up-to-date when it came to idioms and concepts and all…"

"He did admit that, yes. Yet… Why has he sometimes named himself "Gemini Spark"?"

"That was his previous Denpa – Henkan name. He had his big brother tag with him in doing that and they had two forms: White and Black. He was Black."

"How curious. White and Black… Like _Pocket Monsters_…"

"Yeah. So, given how he now could draw out the full power by himself, he decided "Gray Thunderbolt" would be cooler and it made sense because it was like a version-up…"

"I see. So that solves the speculation from our part…"

"And his civilian name was upgraded by him. He thought his original name was lame and lacking, so…"

"We have no interest on that. You can keep it to yourself."

"Fine."

"Puku! Puku! Ore Chalk Chips! For sale! Puku – buku~!"

"By all the… Bubble Man! I knew our security here sucked."

"Hmpf. The sinner…"

"Yeah… The fool… Giving out Rock Man's location out of money and wanting to charge everyone with lots of money in exchange for info on the "Darkloids"… Laser Man and Rock Man DS… Laser Man is with me and Rock Man DS is with you guys… As Atarasei Oscar, codename Styx…"

"Yes. But he was reborn by your actions over a year ago and he has become way better than he was."

"I'm gonna kick that guy out. Go, Sacrifice!"

"PUKU~! The nightmare monster, de puku~! Run for your bubbles!"

"Huff!"

"I share that same feeling."

"Who doesn't? I'm sure that Rock Man must still hold grudge about that guy… Anyone would!"

"True. Yet… The ones to start that up were the foolish sinners of Colonel and the likes… Wanting to use Rock Man as bait… How foolish. As I exposed, they could have pretended some department had been developing a weapon. A department cut off from the one Doctor Regal operated in as he acted in two fronts…" She exposed.

"Well. Should we for another round? Else the audience will get bored, ya know?" He grinned.

"I guess that." She grinned.

"Ice Spear!"

A rain of ice-made spears began to rain down and Slur calmly formed that cyclone again to draw them away.

"Hell Fire!"

Several round burning spheroids fell down but got deflected too: Kuroban then flung the Aristeros Shield and it began to glow while forming a "Dream Aura" around it: Slur grinned.

"Oh?"

She aimed her right hand forward and some yellowish dots formed on the body of the Aristeros Shield: several wires with a metallic cylinder on their end popped out and tied around the object: electricity spread through it next and she then looked up to see Kuroban falling from above while pointing his Dexia Sword downwards: Slur simply swung her right arm and the Aristeros Shield flew towards Kuroban: he simply flipped to dodge it and then managed to swing his sword in an arch while leaving a clean cut spanning the length of Slur's right arm: she merely looked at the wound with some amusement.

"Ah. So we are getting somewhere." She commented.

"Guess that."

"Fine…"

She spun around her axis and formed a total of eight cyclones which began to spin anti-clockwise: Kuroban seemed to be thinking how to get past those: he grinned and began to spin clock-wise while having his Dexia Sword drawn out: the cyclones began to glow and they began to dissolve into air currents which began to form rings around the length of Kuroban's Dexia Sword: once the eight of them had been gathered they fused into a single cylinder which he shot at Slur: she brought up her right hand and closed it to have it break down into eight streaks of purplish energy which curved and converged on the Kuroban's chest to then give way to an spheroid: it imploded and its shockwave pushed him back yet he was able to form a Dream Sword and flung it at Slur: an explosion happened upon contact and she got some superficial scratches but that was all.

"Heh. You like going for complicated strategies of luring me to take profit of your set up only to shoot it back to me… But it would work on most guys out there because they wouldn't expect such abilities…"

"So? _Where_ is "Kyutora" at?"

"What. You still haven't spotted it? Hah, hah, hah. Guess the expedition was worth it on that point."

"Yes. I shall admit that."

"Heh, heh, heh. It's within another "dimension" past Pluto… Another plane of "Time-Space"… There's Kyutora, which is the only planet there and it's far from the local "Sun"… It's more or less like Mars."

"I see. Yet… That cannot be a mere coincidence… The location of that dimensional anomaly…"

"What do you mean? It's on purpose?"

"Some of my "Creators" experimented with Time and Space… Maybe that "dimension" is actually another region of the Milky Way Galaxy…"

"What!"

"And the "anomaly" is but the shortcut."

"Reminds me all-too-much of the "Space Gate" in the _Odyssey_ series by Arthur C. Clarke…"

"True. I saw that film. It picked me. It was so… different. It was not aimed at being just entertainment… It invited to… think. To question. To try to link the pieces together… And its depiction of almost light-speed travel is something mind-reeling, truly… The last segment… The cycle of human life and the reincarnation as a new life-form… I was wondering about that so I read the novel as well… And understood… That it was being turned into energy, into a program… A program stored within a super-computer yet being capable of some interaction with matter… Intriguing. It reminded me of what Navis could have become…" She admitted.

"Why. I hadn't thought it like that. Bowman sure resembles a Navi but it has no solid form… And is unable to exit into the real world save for a hologram-like image…"

"Well. I guess there is no point to struggling any further by now. We have proved each other what we can do."

"Yeah. Hmmm? Siegfried. Did I authorize you to come over?"

"Yikes! W-well, Prince… I wanted to check on the robot and…"

"You saw it all."

"I s-shall offer no apologies!"

"Whatever."

Kuroban spotted Sieg, who'd been hiding beneath the stairs, and he gasped as he came out and bowed but Kuroban shrugged while Slur directed a hostile glare at him.

"When will you stop bothering Leon?"

"What? Siegfried! I thought I'd told you not to pick on Leon anymore! He's free at last! He's learnt not to hold grudges but that's not the reason to pick on him. He has no business with you!" Kuroban scolded.

"B-but, hum, well, we're brothers and…"

"You're mature enough to go each one's way. The reason I picked you is because you had no other place to go to and you had intelligence. But as I've told you over and over again, I don't want to hear talk about "THAT" when I'm nearby! And that involves picking on your brother!"

"R-roger…!"

"Get out of my sight before I unleash my ANGER!"

Sieg ran away like he was gonna be slaughtered and both sighed in defeat and annoyance.

"It's my fault for letting them loose."

"Well. More or less like what happened to me with Tozukana and starting a discussion with Kage and a companion of his two years ago… That woman is too troublesome, really. It's hard to keep her under check even from the role of "Ms. Secretary"…"

"I know. Well. See you around. I'll go dig. Maybe we'll find something amusing in Kyutora if your "Creators" were there…"

"Do as you like… We shall meet again."

"Same thing over here… See ya~…"

19:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Obihiro – kun! Uncle Dixie came to say nothing!"

"Is that so?"

"Don't look so dry!"

"I look skeptical."

Obihiro had been working with the computer when Oda got into the office and leant over his right shoulder while grinning: Obihiro wasn't surprised in the least.

"There's a fellow here who wants to say hi."

"Who?"

"Video Man: on tape!" Video Man's voice rang out from Oda's iPod Touch while having come up with a joke.

"Patent it." Obihiro challenged.

"Delighted! Mwah, hah, hah, hah. Yo. Kage. Gone to hunt for Shadow Beasts, have you?"

"Isn't that a parody of _The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess_ and the "Shadow World" inhabitants?" He sighed,

"Lovely." Andy sighed.

"You've got audience!"

"Oh yeah? Who? Professor Bacterio?" Kage sarcastically asked.

"Uncle Merton's favorite nephew!"

"Superintendent Oda… Lovely. What an afternoon: I'd just come to pick some clothes for the week." He seemingly slapped his face.

"Join the club." Andy sarcastically told him.

"The despair club, huh? I know, I know…"

"Cha know that cha girlfriend dumped ya~…"

"Joanne – san…! Not again…!"

"Tee, heh, heh. I know it! Cha and the Boss…" Tozukana trailed off.

"Yeah? We're buddies?"

"Ya play Wii games! And cha will play with the Wii U when it comes out sometime in this year! Mixing an iPad and the Wii: you the iWiiPad!"

"Charming name." Andy drily muttered.

"Huff." Obihiro rolled his eyes.

"And when the summer comes… Guess we'll know more stuff…"

"Obviously. Guess we'll see some new trailers and game-play for the long-expected _Halo 4_, which is gonna continue the adventures of the Master Chief after a 5 year hiatus." Andy added.

"Yeah… Too bad there doesn't seem to be any new _Metroid_ in development: I liked Aran's character. At least we got a heroine who can wander alone through a planet, face monsters and then walk off as if it'd been nothing… Tee, heh, heh!"

"Of course. But, getting back to the point…" Lily argued.

"Oh yeah! Cha two are birdies."

"Birdies?" Oda wondered.

"… Ahem, ahem." Obihiro cleared his throat.

"… Ah! Hum. Well, well. Everyone's like they want to be." He improvised a smile.

"Oh? Is someone there, Video Man?"

"Superintendent Oda!"

"Good! Then that means that the _chibi_ hacker is there, too!"

"_Chibi_? Me? I'm almost 14!" Obihiro blushed and looked annoyed.

"Tee, heh, heh."

"Please…" Lily complained.

"Did cha say something? I expect cha to flee, Ms. Lily!"

"Not again…"

"I'm off before I go mad." Kage cursed.

"See you."

"And you see." Tozukana made up a pun on the spot.

"Behold! "Listen, Boss, listen to Beast-Hioven's latest single! "The Major Beee Concert for Saucepan and Orchestra"!"… YIA~H! YEAH! YEAH! ZOM! CLANC! SCRENCH! BOM! BLANG!... "Attention, all agents! I need two volunteers for a hi-risk mission! Volunteers can report to… Hey! Where are you going to? Come back! Come ba~ck!"… "Yeah, yeah… Come back… With a withered forehead!"… "Hi-risk mission… Sure coffin!"… "MAKE WAY~!"… "You lot of cowards! Dungy rats! You weaklings!"… "You and your concert… Grftjx! My Eustachian tubes are a mess! I'm still half-deaf!" … "Me too, Boss, but… What a melody, eh? Something ethereal, elevated, skyward…!"… From the album "M. I. E. R."…!" Video Man began to play back something he'd apparently recorded a while ago.

"Hah! And they say men are macho and all." Tozukana laughed.

"Guess the author wanted to parody that _cliché_."

"… "A~h! You stayed! I knew you wouldn't run like cockroaches upon hearing my call!"… "W-what call? I didn't hear anything." … "I didn't, either…" … "As I was saying, it's very hi-risk mission… Come to my office, come, and we'll talk!"… "All heard him! And ran off in time! I'm gonna you concert!" … "Devil! Stuff the finger in your nose!" … "Well! What's that mission about? Where do we go to?"… "Well, you're going to the "M. I. E. R."…"… "He's going to… Hah, hah, hah! To… Ho, ho, ho! Hyah, hyah, hyah, HYA~H!"… "And you'll obviously go along! Both of you are going to the "M. I. E. R."!"… "Hey! You go to the _mier_! What manners!"… "GRFJTX! I'm talking about the "M. I. E. R."! The "Misión Intergaláctica Espacial Rebóllez"… "Rebóllez Inter-galactic Spatial Mission"… Our space platform!" There's a pun here, see!"

"… "M. I. E. R." can be read as "mier" and short for "mierda" or "shit": a strong insult is to say "go shit" but I'd rather translate it as "go to Hell" instead… And it's a parody on the MIR space-station." Obihiro leant his head on the desk and groaned.

"My, my." Oda looked amused.

"… Well! I'm going to sum up the explanation. The "MIER" is made up by modules from Spain, Ameroupe, Sharo, Japan and Ghana to form a new ISS… This story dates from 1999: the ISS project was just starting to take form, you know… The "Rebóllez" part means Aniceto Rebóllez, President of the Oil-Hake Bank, a major sponsor… If the project is successful he seeks to become PM… "If the project is successful? Heh! I can picture the guy cleansing windshields in the corners!"… "No, sir! All will go perfectly because, heading the project, we've got our Physics-Biology-Therapy expert! Professor Bacterio!"… "A gentleman here!" … "HIM!"… "HIM!"… "Come back here, damned you! You! Starving lot! Come ba~ck!"… "Whaddya say 'bout this babe, dude? Eh? Look at the speed counter: 230 kilometers hour and increasing!"… "It's gotta be broken… Look at those two guys who easily run ahead of us!" … "T-tell me I'm not seeing this… 415 km/h and two guys just overshot us!"… "I'm not drunk, HQ! I'm flying at 3500 km/h hour and I see two guys down there which are going faster… ON FOOT!"… Almost Mach 3, you know!"

"Heh! When those two need to run then they can overcome anything!"

"How silly." Lily groaned.

"Earth, swallow me whole…" Obihiro grimly muttered.

"Ah! Passion." Oda laughed.

"… "I caught 'em, Mr. Super! They were in the south!" … "They'd reached Andalucía~?"… "They were in the midst of Antarctica, see! And you can't come any closer! They bite like sea-lions!"… "You lap-dog! Get a nettle to pop out under the eyelid!"… "Grtjxht! You can choose: go to the "MIER" or watch all Chuck Norris TV series!"… "No~! The "MIER", the "MIER", Mr. Super!"… I guess they had to be pretty bad if the "MIER" mission was preferable to that!"

"Truly. Let Devil bite my hat if I'm wrong."

"Please… One, two, three… Hop!"

Obihiro quickly grabbed his notebook computer and ran off as if he was going to go mad right there: Oda chuckled and sat down on his chair while rubbing his chin.

"Well! Spain had to deal with the meals department. Mortadelo got into the mood to pull a joke! "Ho, ho, ho! I can picture myself typing the menu… First course: M. I. E. R. beans! Hyah, hyah, hyah!"… "Less kidding! Heading the department there'll be a person with super-expertise on cooking matters… Ms. Ofelia!" … "You gotta be glad, eh, boys?"… "No~! Ofelia too comes! Bacterio and Ofelia!"…. "Be brave, Boss! Both at the same time! One, two and…!"… Sign: Niagara Falls. "Come back here, you damned lot! I'm telling you to come back! Grmbljf! I should've let them jump down… Two less vermin in the world...!"…"

"They wanted to jump down the Niagara Falls, eh?"

"Yeah! But Mr. Super had a helicopter pick them by tying a rope around their necks and dragging them across the sky!"

"And let me guess: the whole deal ended in tragedy!"

"Yeah! After trouble testing inventions, meeting with trouble with some food inventions, another batch of tests, trying to have astronaut training and trouble with the rocket try-out… They managed to make it there somehow! Ms. Ofelia prepared something almost intoxicating and all foreign astronauts ran off! Then a chase to catch a loose pig ended up with Filemón missing to hit Mortadelo with a weapon and piercing a hole in a special gas bottle… Bacterio said it didn't explode but they knew better and evacuated as the whole station blew up!"

"Hyah, hyah, hyah! Never trust Bacterio's word: those guys have obviously needed to learn it the hard way! Hyah, hyah, hyah!"

"Heh, heh, heh!" Oda chuckled.

"Huff! Jeez! Let's move on with the next chapter! Fade to black! See ya!"


	27. Chapter 27: Pandora's Box

**Chapter 27: Pandora's Box**

09:39 AM (Japan Time), Saturday April the 2nd…

"… The April's Fool Hangover!"

"What?"

"Oh shit."

"Run for it!"

"Madness is coming!"

"Heh, heh, heh. They're guilty of something, yessir."

Superintendent Oda walked into a room where some Net Police workers had been having a coffee or another beverage from vending machines while announcing a motto of his: the four or five there ran off.

"What happened?" Meijin walked in, puzzled.

"They fear the April's Fool Hangover!"

"W-what's that?"

"Hell if I know." Punk fumed.

"Know if I Hell." Oda laughed.

"Wha~t?"

"Huff."

"Don't be so defeatist, Meijin – kun! We did figure out that "Barbatos" was your Bahamas half-cousin!"

"W-what? That's not true! It was Forte, sir!"

"Etrof, the German?"

"No~…"

"On! No! No! On!"

"What the heck is that…?"

"The newest craziest rhyme!"

"Fuck." Punk cursed.

"So! Mr. Punk. I expect you to rock 'n roll!"

"Don't tell me, _Danna_." He sighed.

"Ah! Obihiro – kun. Perfect! Are you suffering from April's Fool Hangover?"

"Heck. I got 13 emails by you which spelled "D-E-A-T-H-A-N-D-F-R-I-E-N-D" one after the other."

Obihiro happened to be trying to sneak past them: but Oda spotted him and grinned: Obihiro growled.

"Don't be so annoyed! Be gentler! Like a gentle-chum!"

"Not another pun… I'm off!"

"Through the Off Door sponsored by Aunt Klein?"

"GJRKTXJ!" He growled something undecipherable.

"I'm running off, too!"

"Everyone is, damn it!"

"Bless it!" Oda laughed.

Obihiro and Meijin managed to escape while Oda climbed up to another floor and snuck into an office where Torolov was going over something with Laika with the PET.

"Yo! Torolov – kun and Laika – kun. Uncle Igor came to say hi~?" He greeted them.

"Heck."

"Lovely." Laika sighed.

"Trouble, sir." Search Man sighed as well.

"You know the motto, Laika… One, two, three… Hop."

Torolov ran off and Oda chuckled as he left a framed photograph of the Medusa there, atop the desk: he came out the office and stuck a banner with the name "Snow Flake – kun" there: he whistled a tune and climbed up to another floor where he found Enzan discussing something with Blues as he sipped some hot coffee.

"The April's Fool Hangover dropped by~!"

"PUAH!"

"Trouble."

"Elbuort – kun came to say bye, hi and nothing at all."

"That's worse than M&F, even… Someone save us."

"Fuah! Heck! Superintendent Oda! Don't sneak into us from behind, will you?" Enzan grumbled.

"My bad, Ijuuin – kun. Solid Snake taught me some tricks."

"Yeah, yeah… Sure, sure…" He was skeptical.

"The Skeptical Club's curse?"

"I'm off!"

"And you're on. On-to something!"

"Save those puns for a broom."

Enzan ran off too with his coffee cup: Oda chuckled and bought one which he calmly sipped before tossing the cup into the garbage bin: he then spotted a suspicious-looking cardboard box which had been turned upside-down and a muffled giggle.

"Huh? What's that?" He wondered.

He lifted it to reveal a hologram of a "Pikachuu" which was making an evil grin and looked up to something as the cheeks sparkled with electricity: it suddenly aimed the tail left.

"Pi-pika~!"

"What's this about?"

"… "Grtjxt! I'll input some commands, yeah! Elimate… nefatious type… I mean… Professor Bacterio!"… * a scandal forms * … "Quick! Call for an ambulance! Professor Bacterio tripped and fell down the stairs! He's even shattered his beard!"… "It works, Boss, it works!"…" A pre-recorded audio file was played back.

"From the short tale "That computer fellow…"… Professor Bacterio gathers components from various PCs to create the ultimate computer which can make anything possible! Mortadelo, in a fit of annoyance, commands he wants to get rid of the Prof and he falls down!"

"That voice isn't Video Man, but, rather… Siegfried? Hum. I knew they were into the club, but…"

"YEA~RGH!"

CRASH! BLOM! THUD!

"W-whoa! What happened?"

He rushed over to the stairs to see a lot of people looking there: it turned out there was a banner with the words "April's Fool" written on it and set at the start of the stairs.

"Huff. They wanted to make us think the Pikachuu wanted someone to fall down the stairs."

"Heh, heh, heh. This show was sponsored by Uncle Moriarty's most disliked nephews!" Sieg joked.

"Please… Even I feel that's silly." He muttered with some irony.

"That Sieg guy, that Eisei guy…! When will they leave us in peace and let us work?" A police-woman complained.

"Dunno. Maybe when cha grown donkey ears." Another sarcastically added.

"WHAT? Sasarako! Wait here, cha! I'll have cha regret making a fool of me for the 27th time already~! Nya~h! I feel VEHEMENTLY DISGUSTED!"

"Alright. I guess trouble popped out… Ah… At least it's not as worse as what happened 4 years ago… Huh… I better don't think of it… Let's try to improve the mood… Well! Fellows! Anti-Protest Chum will fight Pro-Protest Fellow! How's that like?"

A chorus of moans, groans, grumbles and countless other sounds echoed across the stairs' whole height: Oda chuckled and returned to the corridor to then head to another empty office and open a window to look out into the street: he spotted Sieg looking at the entrance and he seemed to be barely holding back his laughter.

"I can see you perfectly. This is the 2nd floor, anyway."

"If ya wanna get an ascent then tell me the name of the Plasma Gang's leader and then get to the rooftop to see who can break into the Golden Safe of Time Eternal!" His voice rang out.

"Huh… Sakaki?"

"That's Rocket Gang, man!"

"The Mask of Ice!"

"The guy was also Rocket Gang!"

"Wasn't it Aogiri?"

"No! Matsubusa!"

"Pluto!"

"That was a Galaxy Gang Admin! The Boss was Akagi!"

"Correct answer: G-Cis! And that of the safe was an April's Fool Hangover sponsored by Uncle Moriarty's utterly hated nephews!"

"Please…" Even Oda was exasperated at the joke.

"See ya 'round by the time _Black 2_ and _White 2_ come out!"

"Someone should tell him to stop before it gets out of control…!"

_The chum… He sure brings trouble along. What a morning, really…!_

10:34 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Yes. He's rebuilt part of the Virus Lab to use it as house."

"Hum. I see. Let them be. They cannot come out into the real world and even if they start to go into a rampage somewhere… I shall go and halt them."

"Roger."

Dark Man was reporting to Slur who wasn't too surprised within the _Purgatory_ Cyber World: she shrugged and wasn't too surprised.

"By the beard of Moran!" Video Man cursed close by.

"What's wrong?" Legato asked.

"Someone hacked into the blog." Freeze Man let out with a sigh.

"Sieg and company, I guess." Legato grumbled.

"Lovely!" Needle Man fumed.

"Che." Burner Man scoffed.

"We knew from some time ago that they listened to those but they broke in by force… Siegfried must've used Leon's PET…" Legato guessed.

"They want them so badly, we're gonna post them in a public blog and send the address to them." Video Man suggested.

"_Marchando_!" Burner Man grinned.

"Shah, shah, shah! Yeah! They want 'em so badly… Let's make 'em dance to the tune of our microphones!"

"Hum! They shall not trespass!" Pharaoh Man muttered as he flew past them some meters southwards.

"Of course not. They should be taught there's a limit." Cosmo Man sighed and folded his arms.

"Something tells me they're about to get scolded by playing with fire and almost getting the others burnt." Shade Man chuckled.

"Of course." Tom confirmed.

"At least Joanne – chan seems to be behaving a bit…" Lily sighed.

"It's trouble. Bertha – chan's being too sneaky." Sandra sighed, too.

"Welcome to the club." Lily sarcastically told her.

"I get the irony."

"Who wouldn't?" Akemi muttered as she walked across an arching bridge close by.

"If only Wan – kun didn't get into so much trouble…" Beta X muttered as he sat in a corner and sighed.

"Hum. Well. The morale seems to be the usual…" Slur muttered after glancing around.

"So it'd seem…" Freeze Man sounded slightly resigned.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! Bertha! Cha are rotting like an apple!" Tozukana laughed in the real world.

"Oh my. I wonder about that." Ikada giggled.

"… Trouble…" Qong drily muttered.

"Jeez." Suzuki complained.

"Huff." Zarashe sighed.

"Well, well, well. Do cheer up, ladies and gentlemen." Agoras tried to encourage them.

"Let's try to be civil, alright?" Victor suggested.

"Hey there! Leon! Go bust zombies!" Tozukana suddenly laughed at her challenge.

"I don't need to." Leon calmly replied.

"YOU go… bust zombies." Qong challenged Tozukana.

"Hah! Why not. I'll tag with Ada Wong, yeah!"

"What's with the mood?" Andy asked as he came in.

"Dunno." Zero warped in and fumed.

"Yo! Miquel! Wanna struggle?" Tozukana laughed.

"No." He drily replied.

"_Eh bien_? What's going on?" _Noir_ asked.

"Well. The mood seems to have gone weird after we found out Sieg and company hacked the recordings from the blog's server." Kage summed up with a sigh.

"That won't do. We need to be cheerier."

"I know, Boss! Let's make a party! Today's April's Fool Hangover!"

"A-April's Fool Hangover?" _Noir_ sounded horrified.

"Hah! So cha are in the anti-_sake_ league?"

"Grjtkxh! I don't like _sake_ or alcohol but I'd never heard of that. I suspect it's a made up name."

"Yeah. Obihiro told me. By Superintendent Oda…"

"I knew it." He sighed.

"Now, now! Let's improve this mood." President Hades insisted.

"Video Man. Tell a joke or something." Legato told him.

"Hmmm… Good fortunes! How many fortunes do we need to fortune tonight? A million fortunes in a boxed fortune?"

"Guess that!" Tozukana laughed.

"Oh my." Ikada sounded amused.

"Hmpf." Qong, as always, was unimpressed.

"Well. At least it's not as maddening as the comics." Suzuki commented.

"Sure isn't but, well…" Zarashe sounded in a slightly better mood.

"That's it! I'm gonna invent the Rampaging Tortilla! _Marchando_!"

"Rampaging Tortilla! Shah, shah, shah! Even those Shunoros punks will fear its name! Shah, shah, shah!" Needle Man laughed.

"The new motto of the V-B-N Club!" Video Man laughed next.

"Well. It improves the morale, so…" Slur shrugged.

"At last!" Hades sighed in relief.

"Heh, heh, heh… When the full moon rises… A drama will unfold…"

"Yo! I'm late. What happened?" Alex asked as came in and walked over to Andy's position.

"We managed to improve the mood, somehow." Andy sighed in relief.

"I expect you to write poems, Mr. Atarasei!" Tozukana joked.

"Not that joke again…!" Atarasei complained.

"At least we shook off the annoying parrot." Suzuki muttered.

"I expect you to yell, Ms. Parrot!" Tozukana laughed.

"Oh no. I expect you to stay quiet, Ms. Parrot." She sighed.

"Too loud for cha mood?"

"For anyone's."

"Hah! I knew it. It's a tropical parrot: they never learn to stay quiet. The more tropical, the louder! Hyah, hyah, hyah!"

"Hmpf… I'm off to… training." Qong sentenced.

"With Leiter, Felix Leiter."

"Hmpf."

"That joke's running way too old." Tom grumbled.

"Of course!" Lily was annoyed by now.

"Huff. She won't learn." Akemi complained.

"Anyway… Akemi! Let's gather the stuff and set out."

"OK."

"By the way, Wan… Are ya gonna dance the One Dance?" Ikada asked Zarashe.

"Stop with the "Wan – One" joke already, Ikada – san…!"

"Yeah. It's driving him mad." Beta X complained next.

"No wonder. I sponsor the Madness Club."

"No way." Agoras groaned.

"This gal…!" Victor grumbled.

"Is callous." She made up a joke.

"By the way… Ikada – san. Are you the author of those emails with the motto "the heroes pop out when TV needs them"?" Suzuki asked.

"Indeed! So?"

"I don't think Hikari – kun and Rock Man became "heroes" because the TV needed it, see. Wrong place, wrong time. And then those guys who chased after them… Proof is: ever since 2007 no – one has brought up Rock Man's name anymore." Suzuki argued back.

"And they better don't. He deserves living a normal life." Andy muttered.

"As long as they don't bother Hikari – kun, then…" Kage seemingly shrugged it.

"I'm off to my room: I've got homework to work on." Leon announced.

"Like checking out "some" sites?" Tozukana teased.

"Ahem, ahem!" _Noir_ cleared his throat and made it clear he got annoyed by her comment.

"Yikes!"

"Later." Leon dully announced.

"Legato, Andy… Can you come over to my room? There's talk."

"Roger, _Noir_ – sama."

"_Madame._ Should we discuss the asset?" Hades brought up.

"Indeed."

"Ah! Tozukana – san. No more comments like that about Leon – kun or there'll be CONSEQUENCES. Namely, we will need to bother your aunt again and she will need to tell you some things."

"Y-yeah… Gotcha, Boss…"

Andy and Legato warped out of the Cyber World and materialized within Kuroshiro's room: he and Kage came in and Kuroshiro lowered the hood as he sat on his chair and Kage sat on his.

"Well. Forte. What do we do?"

"As Slur – sama said… Let's them be. We'll be evaluating them from time to time. But we must try to keep the info of his return under wraps or else trouble will ensue. We don't want to make him believe the old Science Labs fools are still chasing him." Kage suggested.

"Alright. That's more or less what I'd thought of, too."

"Let's hope he'll try to use the brain more and maybe he'll come up with some plan… Maybe he'll re-use the armor to move around and hide his ID… If there was a way to soothe him…" Andy muttered.

"We should try to look up the old data in the Science Labs: Hikari – hakase could forward it, couldn't he?" Legato suggested next.

"Yeah. It'll serve as a basis. We then should need to find a way to study his current body… Maybe the long-range scan will do…"

"Then, it's settled, isn't it? By the way: did we manage to shake off that journalist?" Andy brought up.

"Yeah. They're now busy with the idea Zero sent to them."

"Good. I hope it goes well and she forgets about this…"

"Well. And even if she wrote something, it'd say you simply are Rock Man, who borrowed a "Copy Roid" from the Science Labs, and they allowed you to pose as "Hikari Saito"..." Kage argued.

"Ah. Well. Then that's not that bad. We can say that it's a experimental device which isn't available to the public out of safety concerns so this one prototype is rigged with a lot of fail-safes… I volunteered to test it out and help them improve it. It's not the definitive version. End of the tale."

"Good." Legato nodded in agreement.

"But, really… April's Fool Hangover… I know it was a Friday this year but even so… Like you're supposed to drink up a lot…" Kage sighed.

"Uncle Merton's handiworks are subtle, Miquel – chan."

"Jeez. The payback from New Year's Eve? That was 3 months ago already, you know! You hold into grudges or what, Andy?"

"Who knows?"

"Now, now…" Kuroshiro tried to put peace.

"Let's not start it up again."

"Then let's over it down. For once." He made a pun.

"Very funny." The other three drily muttered.

"Ops. Hikari Netto's PET is ringing…"

Kage's face suddenly faded away to give way to a black leather-like mask covering his whole face and neck including the base: it lacked any facial features whatsoever and covered the eyes as well.

"Face Camo: off."

He unfastened the bandana and then pulled the mask out to reveal Netto's face beneath it: he took out a case and stored a pair of contacts there before sighing and looking up.

"Alright. It's Dekao so let's see what the heck he wants. The demonstration of the other day should've told him."

He connected the call and Dekao (having a cocky grin on) showed up on-screen.

"Yo! Netto! I beat Glyde!"

"So what?"

"So you're next! Prince Ooyama is gonna BEAT YA UP!"

"Have you forgotten the other day against "Barbatos"?"

"Hah! That was a light show. I'm not gonna fall for that!"

"If you don't do the homework your parents are gonna get annoyed."

"Huh! That's… Eh…"

He nervously looked around and then sighed.

"Heh! I can handle that later! Bring it on, twerp!"

"The God of Homework will curse you." Andy dully told him.

"E~H?"

"You will have to eat vegetables for a whole week."

"T-then I'm off to solving this! We'll settle it another day!"

"Phew." Legato sighed in relief.

"Yeah. At least we shook him off. We'll be going back to Akihara Town and have a chat with the class…" Netto stood up.

"OK. Have fun." Kuroshiro grinned.

"Next time hijack a ticket to Kyutora." Legato joked.

"Sure. We'll have Eisei carry a pendant of the Duel Monster." Andy joked and crossed his arms.

"Jeez. Andy. No need to overdo it, really." Netto sighed.

"Heh, heh, heh." The other three chuckled or giggled.

"Jeez. Let's get moving already! See ya around!"

11:52 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Tee, heh, heh!"

"… What do you want?"

"Don't be so cold! Wan will One the Wan – One!"

"That's a pun on one of Kage – kun's friends."

"Tee, heh, heh!"

Meiru had been playing the piano at her house when Yaito rang her to pull jokes but she replied in a cold and dry manner: Yaito wasn't taken aback by it and kept on joking.

"Yaito – sama…!" Glyde pleaded in the background.

"Jeez." Roll complained.

"Guts, guts! Guts Man to the rescue, de guts!"

"This time I'll become a worthy guy!"

"You'll become a comic relief guy." Meiru drily shot back.

"Wha~t?" He gasped in horror.

"Guts!"

"I don't need you to butt in without permission!" Roll snapped.

"Gattsu~!"

"Flee." Meiru commanded.

"Desu! Where's the penguin?"

"Huh… I don't see any. And I fear we got trolled."

Ice Man made it inside of the Sakurai House Cyber World too and Hikawa looked resigned.

"Tee, heh, heh! I'm Troll Queen!"

"Sure, sure." The others (save Dekao and Guts Man) muttered.

"Did ya call for me, Meiru?" Netto opened a communications screen and looked surprised.

"No. Yaito – chan messed it up."

"Jeez. Why do I always fall for those? One would think I'd learnt how to not to fall for those in these years' time." Netto sighed.

"Told you…" Saito grumbled.

"Saito – chan will Chan – Saito a Site!"

"What in the… That's ridiculous." He groaned.

"Not as ridiculous as Professor Sulfuro, who invented a chemical formula to become invisible but since his glasses became invisible too… And he was short-sighted… He missed his targets!" Yaito giggled.

"Yeah. It was one of the short stories after "Prophet Jeremy"…."

"He shot at a bust's nost, stabbed a lamp, kicked an archive and, lastly, fell down the elevator shaft because he mistook the sign "en reparación" for "encuadernación"… "Repairing" for "Binding"… Sure was short-sighted!"

"Yeah… That story was titled "Invisible Terror": and now go spread it there and there."

"Delighted! Using the Spreader Battle Chip, of not course~…!"

"Earth, swallow me…" Glyde grimly muttered.

"Why does this city go mad the whole time?" Hikawa groaned.

"Don't ask me." Meiru muttered with some annoyance.

"No! Ask the Conspiring Chibi – chan!" Yaito giggled.

"I've had enough. We'll settle it on Monday!"

"Come anytime, my dear fellow conspirer."

"HUFF!" Everyone (Dekao and Glyde included) were already fed up.

"Tee, heh, heh! Tee, heh, heh! _See ya around the tree-house, babe~_…"

07:17 AM (Latvia Time)…

"… Ah! There you were, Ernst."

"Yeah…"

"Huh… Is there some problem?"

"… Huff."

"… Ah. I see."

Alec found Ernst inside of the hut and sitting on the bedroom dusty bed while looking at the ground.

"… The good years… They'll never come back… I've lost something and despite being a prideful member of "Shunoros"… Nothing has changed: my anger is gone and replaced by emptiness."

"Yeah… The incident changed us all… That damned bastard…! Burying a mannequin in our church…!"

"Hence why I got another father… Mr. Simonov… The gardener and watch-keeper of the graveyard…"

"Well… I don't think I should be the one to say this, but… We can't live haunted by the past forever, I think…"

"You're right. I should look on forward."

"Do you have some sneak news?" Alec asked.

"Well… I already told you about _Black 2_ and _White 2_ coming out in the summer… And this October we'll get _Biohazard 6_, too… This year's PKMN movie is named "Kyurem VS Sacred Swordsman Keldeo"… We're still pending to be told about number 649 of the National Encyclopedia: it might be the one referred in the "P2 Lab" where there's a memo saying something about "the ultimate PKMN" but it is cut off…"

"They always say "ultimate" but I thought Mewtwo was supposed to be the ultimate one back then."

"Yeah. But maybe these P2 Lab guy didn't know about Mewtwo."

"It's the 155th in the Isshu Encyclopedia, too… Including Victiny… It's still surprising the fellow's number 000 in the Isshu Encyclopedia…"

"649 already…! They fell one short of 650: it'd made for a neat round number." Alec muttered.

"Yeah. Well. My companions have gone there and there to have fun for some days off-duty we got granted… The Prince and Eisei stayed in the base to prepare some strategies…"

"Do you think that Laika guy will show up again?"

"Nah. He got the message. He's not that idiotic."

"Good."

"And since we managed to locate and have the accomplices of the villain pay for their petty crimes… Then there's no trouble."

"They've begun to demolish the manor and they will seal the basement too: the perimeter will be torn down too and the land left to grow again and become part of the forest." Alec let out.

"Ah! Good, good. Let that filthy place disappear from the face of the Earth: we don't need it around." Ernst looked satisfied.

"We spread some rumors about bobby traps so no-one has dared to go any close to it."

"Perfect. Let's climb into the tree."

"OK!"

Both climbed into the tree's branch and looked at the sky as the sun was starting to rise.

"I'll be spending a week here. I'll download the newest _Court of Owls_ issues as well. _Batman 05_ came out the last month and it was spectacular: check it out yourself. Heh, heh, heh."

"Man! Don't tease me like that, Ernst!"

Both laughed in a cherry manner…

13:13 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hum. So "Barbatos" was THE Forte… I'd had that feeling…"

"Yeah. We've decided not to mind the guy a lot. If he starts to show symptoms of going berserk, just knock them out."

"Fine. Not like they'll fare much better against me even if they have that "Falzer" form, anyway…"

"Do as you like."

Legato had met with Burai and was briefing him: he didn't look too surprised at the news.

"What about the others?"

"Huh? Ah! Search Man and the others… Bah. Don't mind them. If they want to try to beat Forte, let them be, too… Colonel will surely come if he he hears of this… And surely will hear of it from Shadow Man… Tomahawk Man won't care and won't get involved… _Ani-ue-sama_ will rather not mess with the guy either…" Legato listed with a shrug.

"I'm not you lowlife's brother."

"Why. _Ani – ue – sama_. Ya look fine!"

"Blues. No grudges."

"Yes, Enzan – sama…!"

"Do we need to send the "Talon" after Forte's cloak, Enzan?"

"Well. Why not."

Blues had happened to be there and Legato grinned at him: Blues grumbled but Enzan sent him an order: Legato joked with Enzan and he shrugged.

"Beware of Ayanokoui's jokes, tough. They drive you mad."

"Huh. Yeah. Well then… See ya around."

"Hmpf… Guess next time Kuroban will be stronger… I'm off, too…"

"Yo! Blues."

"Ah. Rock Man. You came over?"

"Yeah. I wanted to have a walk. And a change of airs, too…"

"So, Enzan… Did you beat Ganondorf in the _Great Melee Smash Brothers X_ or did you dance around with Kirby?"

Rock Man walked over to Blues and they shook hands while Netto joked with Enzan.

"Heh. That's more like you, Hikari… Well. Guess that. Or maybe I actually picked Captain Falcon and taunted Master Hand to show me their moves."

"I prefer using Link myself. He's a swordsman, so…" Blues hushed.

"Heh. I like Pit: he's fast and packs some combos."

"I rather go with Koppa's destroy them all style." Netto admitted.

"So! There's gonna be a break and then the next season will start."

"Mr. Season met Mr. Break." Netto joked to Enzan.

"Heh! Not bad."

"At least they're not as maddening as Superintendent Oda's." Blues muttered.

"Huff. You needn't tell me." Rock Man sighed.

They didn't spot Forte spying on them while partly hiding behind a large rock some meters to the SE: he looked like he was expecting to hear something useful.

"Anyway… I'm off before Liquid sneaks on me." Rock Man announced.

"Sure. I've got some investigation to do, anyway."

"See ya, Enzan. Next time I'll beat ya in a brawling brawl."

"Come anytime."

_Heh! Laugh while you can… One day… I'll be the ultimate Navi again!_

12:44 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… Domino!"

"Jeez. Umisama. That's your 2nd."

"Well. I won one myself, Netsuhonoo."

"Who gets to score sticks? 5 sticks, you're out."

Umisama, Netsuhonoo, Kazebun and Kisei were having a game of domino in the living room while sitting around a table: Umisama finished the game and the other three sighed: Urateido and Sieg were playing _Mario Kart Wii_ close by with a Wii console connected to an LCD TV.

"By the way, where did Eisei and the Prince go to?" Umisama asked.

"They had something to do on Kyutora. I guess some maintenance." Kisei replied.

"Ah. Guess that. Where did Ernst go to, anyway?" Netsuhonoo wondered.

"He's gone to his Latvia village… Don't forget he's got pals there." Kazebun reminded him.

"Oh! True, true."

"My Koppa and Wario combo will CRUSH ya!" Urateido laughed.

"Heh! My Yoshi and Luigi combo will OVERRUN ya!" Sieg countered.

"… "Find him, my lads, I'm also gonna prophesize something! In five minutes' time you won't need combs or little curlers!"… "Track, Mortadelo, track! He can't be too far!"… "Now that ya mention it I'm picking a smell like moth-eaten beard that…" … "I prophesize and I am true that this will dry up like a desert!"… "But, see there… That for real? This is the Atlantic, man!"…" Netsuhonoo suddenly turned on his PET.

"Mr. Super chasing Jeremy after the first prophecy..." Kisei guessed.

"Saying the Atlantic will dry up… The guy's mad." Umisama sighed.

"Totally." Kazebun sighed, too.

"… "I'm going to "lose my life"… GRTJX! Search, Mortadelo, search! If you find him I'm going to give you 10 liters of super petrol and cognac for you alone!"… "Don't hide, you moron, I also know how to prophetize! I know a silly prophet who will end up hanging from a rope!"… "Gramps! Show your arm, you're gona lose the bus!"… "Yes! Tutururu, tarari! A gentlemen only shows up to dance with Lady Di!"… "My God! The isolation! I'm hearing voices from the beyond again!"… Mortadelo disguised as a London bus and the guy had hidden in a Buckingham Palace's guard hat!"

"And "lose my life" meant his copy of a book named "Life"…" Umisama rolled his eyes.

"Domino!" Netsuhonoo grinned.

"Jeez. What are the scores?" Kisei asked.

"Well… Me: 3… Netsuhonoo: 2… Kisei: 2… Umisama: 3…"

"The 3-2-2-3 revenge~?" Urateido joked.

"How original." The quartet drily muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh! Struggle! The Domino Struggle~!" Sieg added.

"… "He ain't here either, Mr. Super!"… "That wind!"… "Dear, dear!"… "I prophesize, Pansido, that in a few days from now, you'll be totally bald!"… The guy was hiding in a grave and the others were searching them!" Burner Man laughed in the record.

"I know… After he said that of the "Besugio Eruption" and his summer house ended up blown up… Domino!" Kazebun settled.

"My loss." Netsuhonoo sighed.

"The 3-3-2-3 rematch!" Sieg joked.

"Shut up." The four of them snapped.

"Shut down." He laughed.

"Do us a favor." They muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Oh, the despair!"

"… "I'm not mad and it's nothing like that! There's a guy there who told me a prophecy! He said: "I swear in your aunt's name that this place's gonna be hotter than in Almería's city center"…!"… "When we find the prophet I'm going to apply a special treatment in the tongue and he'll lose the mood to let out more prophecies!"… "Come on, Mortadelo! He can't be far!"… "Yeah, yeah… You told me the same when we crossed the Siberian Taiga and you see…!"… In the North Pole! An ice-cream seller talking with a client and signaling an igloo while Mr. Super yields a pair of gigantic pincers!… Shah, shah, shah!" Needle Man laughed.

"Domino and oni-mod: the _oni_ moderator!" Netsuhonoo laughed.

"My loss." Umisama admitted.

"The 3-3-2-4 duel!" Urateido laughed.

"Will this madness EVER end?" Kazebun cursed.

"I hope it does, or else… We'll need to do something about it." Kisei grumbled as he glared at the other two.

"… "But, see… Are you lifting me or not?"… "Your father!"… "No, no, let's forget about his father! We've got enough with beating the jerk!"… "Like I'm blame for having a fatty aunt! Were it to be my Uncle Recaredo, the main culprit for the _Titanic_ disgrace…!" … "Did you see what the mad guy's telling the dinosaur?"… "I prophesize and it's not a joke that, in a few lustrum from now, only shells will be left of these mighty beasts!"… A chase into a cave which still had primitive humans and some dinosaur dwelling deeper in! Video action!" Video Man laughed.

"Domino: how's this one like?" Kisei grinned.

"I lose this round." Kazebun calmly let out.

"4-3-2-4: the 13 steps! We're disgraced!" Urateido made up a silly motto on the spot.

"By the way: where the heck is Laser Man at, anyway?" Sieg asked.

"Oh. Laser Man? I think he was in charge of checking something in the Kyutora base." Kisei remembered.

"… "Jeremy~! Where'd you gone off to~?"… "Come, come! We're going to give you a long-lasting pajama!"… "Will you make me a favor and leave this where you found it, on my Transylvania castle?"… "I don't have a bad mood, but think that a mage is better than Dracula and maybe you get a disgrace!"… "What's this bearded guy hidden within the cabbages saying?"… "Like I know! I guess he's nuts!"… M&F carried a coffin with Dracula inside of it! _Marchando_!" Burner Man explained.

"Do-mi-no~… Let's sing." Umisama laughed.

"My loss." Kisei sighed.

"4-3-3-4! You're free from the curse of the 13 steps! But beware of the cursed of the 16 steps!" Sieg joked.

"Jeez." The four of them complained.

"… "Oh, my prophet! You're in a bad spot, dude~!"… "Next time a prophet visits me I'm going to send them to become fuel for the Vandellós nuclear plant!"… "Shut up this guy or I'm going to pierce him!"… "Well, the tale ends and I only prophesize that, like a sausage sandwich, I'm going to be eaten by this pilchard!"… "Why! It's a prophet! I'm gonna have them read my palm's fortune and then I'm gonna eat him!"… THE END! Shah, shah, shah! There goes the pitiful guy~…" Needle Man laughed.

"The Mod _Oni_ strikes back! Domino with a domino!" Netsuhonoo laughed.

"Well. My loss. I'm off." Umisama calmly stood up.

"Now we get another 5 pieces to "borrow" if we get stuck." Kazebun grinned.

"Borrow Them All Man And Never Return Them Man!" Urateido chanted an impossibly long motto.

"Wha~t? Say that again, this rascal!" He snapped at Urateido.

"Trouble." The other three sighed.

"I'm Trouble Man's incarnation!" Sieg proclaimed.

"Like Hell." Kazebun growled.

"Focus on the game!" Netsuhonoo told him.

"Fine."

"And not so fine." Urateido joked next.

"Heh, heh, heh. I've got 5 victories and ya have 4, _Danna_~…"

"I'm going for my 5th."

"… Domino!" Kazebun grinned.

"Huff." Netsuhonoo sighed.

"So! 4-4-3." Kisei calculated.

"Next round I'm gonna beat ya, Kazebun!"

"Bring it on."

"Bring it down." Kisei sarcastically suggested.

"Hah! I win! Domino!"

"I'm off, then. _Gone with the domino._" Kazebun made up a parody.

"Hey! Not bad, _Danna – _sama~…!" Sieg joked.

"So! 4 VS 3, Kisei.. You go!"

"Let's go, then."

"And let's not go. Huh? Mail from Eisei… "Pandora's Box"…?"

"Dunno." Urateido admitted.

"Mabe it's an irony?" Umisama wondered.

"Maybe." Kazebun shrugged.

"I win. Domino." Kisei grinned.

"Wha~… Total bad luck!" Netsuhonoo groaned.

"Well, well! Look forward to the next season! Right, guys?" Sieg laughed.

"Yeah! Look forward to it!"

14:04 PM (Philippines Time)…

"… But, _aibou_… This is kind of like Pandora's Box… A Pandora's Box which shouldn't be opened, you know…"

"I'm curious: that's all. Worse thing? Some defense Navis or programs but we can beat them with the hi-freq blade. Laser Man's PA will also help given its high destructive power."

"I am on standby, Prince."

Kuroban, Gray Thunderbolt and Laser Man were standing in front of two large stone doors with a weird symbol carved into them and which seemed to be within some natural-formed cavern.

"To think we had this thing just 45 minutes' travel from the base in the SSE direction…! But how are we gonna open this? Do we draw the blades and cut this to pieces or what?" Gray Thunderbolt asked.

"No. Slur actually handed over some data named "Duo's Crest", some password which is engraved within palms… If the architecture of this system is similar to the ones she knew of then it should grant us access to all devices inside… That's why I made copies for us…"

"The Pandora's Box… If we open it… Will disaster ensue for us? Will we doom Earth?"

"Relax! This surely isn't related to that "Duo" guy. Let's go!"

Kuroban approached a metallic cylinder to the right and leant his hand over it: the same symbol formed on his palm and on its surface and it sunk while the doors silently opened: they all gasped.

"T-this is…!"

"What!" Gray Thunderbolt gasped.

"By all the…" Laser Man cursed.

They stood in the threshold and felt a shiver go down their spines…

**THE END**


End file.
